Freedom Quest
by BatmanRules256
Summary: About six months after Brevon's attack on Avalice, Milla longs to find her parents. But Torque knows something about them, but has only told Carol. Will they find her parents? Will Lilac's inner darker nature hamper their progress? Find out in Freedom Quest. Rated T, but i guarantee that before this is all said and done, it will be M rated (no lemons i promise). Reviews are nice.
1. Prologue

Prologue

"Did you really think you could take me on all by yourself, girl?" the green skinned tyrant taunted Milla, lifting her by her throat with one hand, the other holding his evil looking sword which dripped with a strange green liquid. She choked and tried to pull his hand off of her throat. Her windpipe was getting more and more constricted by the second. Her fear was almost consuming her. Her breathing, were it not hampered by her shrinking airway, would be very shallow, her eyes wide. She was trembling because of it.

"I—I" she struggled to say. "You—won't—win…"

At this the tyrant laughed. He pulled her closer to him.

"I already have!" he said.

"Not yet you haven't!" a voice shouted from behind him. He looked behind him to see a purple skinned girl in blue clothes (at the sight of her he showed anger and rage in his face) standing in front of the control panel where he held the stone that powered the planet. She shoved a microchip into the computer, jamming the signal that kept the stone in the pod. The glass surrounding it lowered, giving her access to the stone.

"Foolish girl!" the tyrant said, tuning around to face the girl, holding his captive in front of him while placing his sword under her neck.

"Let her go, Brevon!" she shouted, getting into a fighting stance.

"You first." Brevon said, his voice cruel.

The purple skinned girl sighed in defeat, taking out the microchip, causing the stone to go through the floor to another location.

"very good." Brevon said, chuckling. He then sliced Milla's neck (it wasn't a killing blow, just enough to make a cut), some of the green substance on his sword getting into the wound. His captive began to twitch.

"You monster!" the girl shouted as Milla stopped twitching.

Brevon simply chuckled as he dropped his captive and left.

"Milla!" the purple skinned girl yelled at the other. "Are you alright?!"

"L-Lilac…" Milla said, her red hair a little wild due to her shaking.

"It's okay, Milla." Lilac said, hugging her friend. "I'm right here."

"Lilac." Milla said, panting, her eyes shifting between their natural green and red. "Run."

"What?" Lilac asked, confused.

"Something's happening…" Milla said, clutching her stomach and shaking. "to me."

"Milla?" Lilac said, her voice taking on a severe worry.

"Run!" Mila shouted, her voice changing. The last thing she saw was blackness and the last thing she heard was Lilac screaming her name.

 _In the treehouse_

Milla sat up with a jolt, banging her head against Carol's, who just so happened to be leaning over her, the force of the blow knocking Carol to the ground.

"Ow!" the green wildcat shouted, rubbing her head.

"Are you allright Milla?" Lilac asked (she had smartly decided not to lean over the puppy's body)

"It… it was so scary." Milla said, her voice shaking a little. "I saw it happen again."

"Don't worry, kiddo." Carol said, standing up and pointing to herself. "We're here to protect ya! We'll make sure the nightmares go away!"

"Really?" Milla asked innocently, her breathing and heart rate beginning to return to their normal levels.

"Yeah." Lilac said, rubbing Milla's hair. "We promise. And a promise from a dragon is something valuable."

"Okay!" Milla said cheerily, hugging Lilac and Carol. She knew she had nothing to fear with her two closest friends around (she had another, but Torque was currently off planet).

"Oh" Lilac said, remembering something. "Torque sent me a message earlier and told me to tell you guys."

"What did it say?" Carol asked.

"He said he'd come by for a visit sometime this week." Lilac said.

"Sweet!" Carol shouted, Milla nodding in agreement.

"Well" Lilac said, yawning. "We should get to sleep. It's going to be a long day tomorrow."

"How come?" Carol asked.

"It's supply day." Lilac said.

"How are we low already?!" Carol exclaimed. "We restocked three weeks ago!"

"You wanted to have an eating contest." Lilac said.

"Oh" Carol said, rubbing her head sheepishly, her fur getting a slight red tint. "Right."

"So" Lilac said. "We'll leave at two in the afternoon, giving us plenty of time to sleep."

"Great!" Carol said. "I could use a few more hours."

"It will be fun." Milla said, laying back down on her pillow. Lilac and Carol walked over to their beds and lay down as well. They needed some rest for their day ahead.

* * *

There's no cover pic for this, but i'm working on it. I'm taking a small break from my other fics to work on this one because this one i can find some good ideas for and i need to referesh myself on ideas for the others. I'll work on them later, but for now i'm going to work on this one.


	2. Torque's back Part 1: Flashback

Chapter One: Torque's Back/Flashback

I figured I'd put the ages of the four main characters in my fic to clear some things up in case you've not had much experience with the game.

Lilac—15 years

Carol—13 years (she's actually twelve, but this takes place after the game, so deal with it)

Milla—10 years

Torque—17 years

Also note that in this chapter, I will explain certain things. This is done to explain why I do certain things and won't be done later on. Just cut me some slack, I've never written a fic that's actually had to follow a specific canon

"So" Carol said, sitting on the couch inside of the treehouse she, Lilac, and Milla called home. "When's Torque getting here? I'm boooored! I wanna do something!"

Carol was wearing her traditional green shorts with her black, sleeveless shirt. Her green, back tipped tail went around her waist due to how she was sitting (normally, it would move freely). The red scarf she'd gotten from her time in the Red Scarves was tied around her neck, a simple reminder of her less than perfect past as well as the fact that it looked pretty good on her. She wore black, fingerless gloves (she'd learned that claws don't really go well with fingered gloves). Her shoes were green with black tips and yellow laces. Her eyeteeth stuck out just over her bottom lip. Her ears were green with white insides. Her green eyes accented her green fur and glowed in the dark (which had gotten her sever occasions to scare the other members of the treehouse—mostly Milla). Overall, her appearance was very feline. Her body was very well toned and muscular, showing she was very strong and agile (for those of you who have played the game and know what these characters look like, I'm pretty much done with the character descriptions after I describe all of the main characters—and any others that might need an description. I'll only redescribe a main character in detail if they make a significant change of attire—e.g. Carol putting on a dress (like that'll ever happen :P)).

"He said he'd be here around five." Lilac said, looking at the clock. "And it's four thirty now."

Lilac was wearing a blue one piece shirt/pants outfit (I truly don't know what to call it). She wore blue gloves as well as blue boots, both having yellow lining. Her skin (or fur?) was a shade of lilac (who'd have guessed?) that went well with the colors of her clothes. Her lilac hair had two long strands that went down almost to her feet. Though they looked soft and like other kinds of hair, they were as firm as a reptile's hide, able to break stone if whipped with enough force. Her eyes were a pink and purple combination and seemed to shine. She had two horns on her head that almost blended into her hair, which curved around in front of her face. Her muscle tone wasn't as visible as Carol's, but she could actually match Carol in hand to hand combat.

"I hope he hurries." Milla said happily. "It's really fun when Torque's around."

Milla was wearing an olive colored outfit in the same style as Lilac's. However, Milla's had a zipper on the front (Lilac's had one on the back). She wore an orange bracelet on her left wrist and right ankle and a green bracelet on her right wrist and left ankle. She wore no shoes (a personal preference), but she was used to it. Her ears (like the rest of her fur) were white and had green stripes on them (they'd been mistaken for rabbit ears on occasion). They were very strong and could actually propel her upward through the air if flapped. Her eyes were very green, the comparison to her fur making them seem greener than Carol's. They had lost most of the childlike innocence they'd had seven months ago, but they still seemed like the eyes of a child. In comparison to Lilac and Carol, she seemed like the physically weakest in terms of appearance, but she was actually close to them in terms of strength (they were far more experienced in fighting though, so they could easily beat her).

"Yeah." Carol said. "It is."

"Well, he'll be here soon." Lilac said.

"By the way, Lilac." Carol said, her expression going to confused. "How are you in contact with Torque?"

"Oh" Lilac said, holding up a little object that resembled a pocket mirror in shape and design. "He gave me this before he left and said it was how we can keep in contact with him."

"Wait?" Milla asked. "We could have talked to Torque this whole time?"

"not exactly." Lilac said, looking at the device. "He almost never picks up and when he does he says he's busy and it's not a good time. Something about a mission. He only contacted me last week to tell me he was coming by for a visit."

"Well, knowing Torque" Carol said jokingly. "I'll bet he's crashing through the woods to see us right now."

Almost immediately after she'd said that they heard a sound from outside. It sounded like a crash. About thirty seconds after that several loud expletives were heard, causing Milla to gasp.

"What was that?" Milla asked.

"Let's go see!" Carol said, itching to do something other than sit around.

The three of them walked out of the tree house to find a large spaceship crashed into the ground just outside of the woods that surrounded the treehouse. Standing next to it, looking over it and taking note of the damages (as well as muttering expletives under his breath) was a green skinned individual in an orange and black space commander's outfit. He wore orange, black tipped boots as well as grey gloves. His hair was the same shade as his skin. Over it he wore a pair of goggles that he would pull down if he was flying. His eyes were black. In his hand he held a device that emitted a green light that moved over the ship.

"It's Torque." Lilac said.

"Let's have a little fun with him." Carol said. Milla nodded in agreement.

Milla and Carol both snuck behind Torque (his back was to the treehouse), Carol climbing a tree nearby and Mila crouching.

"Damn fuel gauge!" Torque said, sighing. "Should have fixed it back at headquarters and now I need to replace more of this thing."

"Oh, and Carol." he added without even turning around. "I know you're up in the tree. Your little sneak attack won't work on me."

"Aw, man!" Carol said, jumping out of the tree. She walked up to Torque and clapped him on the back.

"Same old Carol." Torque chuckled to himself. "It's good to know you haven't changed in the time I've been gone."

"Hi Torque!" Milla shouted, jumping on Torque, tackling him to the ground. "It's good to see you again!"

"It's great to see you too, Milla." Torque said, laughing as he got up from the ground.

"You haven't changed a bit." Lilac said as she hugged her friend.

"You either." Torque said. "But, can we go in and sit down? I'm a little disoriented from my, um, bumpy ride here."

"How'd ya crash your ship?" Carol asked.

"The fuel gauge was broken" Torque said. "I never did remember to fix it and I ran out of fuel shortly after entering the atmosphere and made a crash landing into the woods. I'm not going to bother with fixing it now because I think I'd break it more."

"Well, come in and we'll make dinner and we can tell each other what we've been doing." Lilac said, gesturing Torque to come with them.

"That sounds great." Torque said, stretching and cracking various joints. Together, the four of them walked into the tree house to catch up on their adventures.

 _In the tree house_

"Wow Lilac!" Torque said as the four of them ate the meal Lilac had cooked. "This is great! You're a really good cook!"

"Well" Lilac said. "I've had plenty of practice, living with Carol and recently Milla."

"Besides." Milla said with a playful tone. "It's not like Carol can cook."

"Yeah." Lilac said. "She almost burned the treehouse down trying to boil water one time.

Everyone else chuckled a little as Carol turned slightly redder.

"Guilty as charged." Carol said, rubbing the back of her head.

"So, Torque." Lilac said, looking at the green skinned commander. "What have you been doing for the past few months?"

"The Chasers" Torque said, taking a sip of water. "Or, at least, the new group of rookie Chasers, has been tasked with hunting down members Brevon's army that remained off of Avalice. A lot of them we found, but it's a bit slow."

"But they can't really do anything without Brevon, can they?" Lilac asked.

"They're still a threat." Torque said, his tone serious. "Even without Brevon's power, they could still present a formidable theat. And we can't forget that Brevon could still be alive."

"Oh, please." Carol said. "If he survived that, I don't think he'd ever mess with US again."

"She's right." Lilac said. "From the injuries Brevon sustained in that fight, it would be something if he ever gained the strength to leave the planet. Besides, we're here and we WILL stop him if he shows his face again."

"Well" Torque said, thinking. "I guess you're right."

"I know." Carol said, leaning back in her chair. "It's a gift."

"Well, on a better note" Torque said, digging into the pockets of his space uniform. "I grabbed some souvenirs for you guys when I last stopped at the station's store."

"For you Lilac" Torque said, pulling out a crest with some creature inscribed in it. "I got the Dragon's crest. It's said to be a relic from the time of the Dragons."

"Cool." Lilac said, taking the crest and putting it around her neck. "It looks great."

"For Carol" Torque said, pulling out something wrapped in a ball of preservative paper. "I managed to get some of Tarcon's fresh meat. I think it's like sushi."

"Sushi?" Carol's ears pricked up when she heard her absolute favorite word.

"It's about the closest thing to sushi there." Torque said as he handed the ball of paper to Carol, who opened it and sniffed it, taking deep breaths.

"Well, there's a catch to this food." Torque said, turning and taking a sip of his drink.

"Well, tell me as I eat some more stuff." Carol said, balling up the remains of the preservative paper. "I'm still hungry Lilac."

"That meat" Torque said, looking a little stunned. "Was made to fill up a person about three times your size."

"Well, I'm not full yet." Carol said. "Lilac, pass the bread, please."

"She's eaten more before." Lilac said, chuckling.

"Wouldn't surprise me." Torque said, not wanting to push the issue too far.

"Now for you Milla." Torque said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a necklace with a circle that had the word 'Milla' inscribed on it.

"Shiny." Milla said, looking at it. Torque buckled the necklace around Milla's neck, the excitable puppy looking into a mirror to see how it looked on her.

"It's also a locket." Torque explained. "You can put a picture of your friends or family in it."

As soon as Torque said that, Milla's countenance fell.

"Milla?" Torque asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Milla said quickly.

"Oh, I forgot!" Torque said, smacking himself in the face. "Milla I'm so sorry. I forgot about your parents."

"It's fine." Milla said quickly. The others knew she was lying, however, by the way her eyes began to water.

"Well, um" Torque said, quickly trying to dissolve the situation. "We could try to look for your parents while I'm here."

"R-really?" Milla sniffled.

"Yeah!" Lilac said, standing up and putting her hand on Milla's head. "We'll find them together."

"Okay." Milla said, wiping her eyes and smiling a little.

"Well" Torque said, thinking. "The first thing we should figure out is their names."

"I think I remember something about that." Milla said, pulling a piece of paper out of her outfit.

"What's that?" Carol asked.

"It's a note I've had from my parents since I was a baby" Milla said, looking at it. "It says that my parents hope I'll grow big and strong and that they'll always love me."

"Why would they leave you in the woods in the first place?" Torque asked.

"I don't know." Milla said. "But they said that if they see me again we would be together again.

"Does it say their names?" Torque asked, picking up his glass and taking a drink.

"I think it does." Milla said, straining to read the worn note.

"Let me see." Lilac said, looking at the note and straining to read the names at the bottom. "I think it says 'Cara and James Basset'.

The second Lilac said that there was a sound of glass breaking and a sharp intake of breath. Lilac and Milla looked over to where the noise came from to see Torque with wide eyes and a partially open mouth. It appeared that he had crushed his glass in his hand, evidenced by the red stained glass under his hand and the blood dripping from his tightly clenched fist (his right fist).

"Torque!" Lilac shouted, running over to her friend. "What happened?!"

"It's nothing." Torque said. "I just put a little too much pressure on my glass and broke it. I guess I don't know my own strength."

"Well, let me help you fix it." Lilac said, running to get bandages, Milla following her.

"You know something about them don't you?" Carol asked in a quiet voice near Torque's ear so that Lilac and Milla couldn't hear easily.

"What makes you say that?" Torque asked, a little pain coming from his hand.

"I may have a shorter attention span than most people." Carol said, leaning close to Torque. "But, I'm not an idiot. I know you didn't put too much pressure on that glass just because you're too strong for it. I know you know something about her parents and that it's not necessarily a good thing. I want to know what."

"Fine." Torque said after thinking it over for a couple of seconds. "Meet me at my ship after I get my hand bandaged and I'll tell you."

"Fine." Carol said, returning to her food. "But, you better tell me everything."

"I'll tell you as much as I believe you can stomach." Torque said as Lilac and Milla came back into the room with some bandages and tweezers.

"Hold still." Lilac said as she held Torque's hand down with one hand and held up the tweezers with the other. Torque's eyes widened and he tried not to show pain as Lilac pulled off his glove and pulled out each piece of glass. The purple skinned dragon hybrid wrapped up the cut with some bandages before she put his glove back on.

"Now don't use that hand too much." Lilac cautioned. "I might not be able to rebandage it again."

"At least it's not my shooting hand." Torque said, slightly flexing it.

"Just try not to use it for a week or two." Lilac said. "and it'll be good as new."

"A week?!" Torque exclaimed. "Even though this isn't my dominant hand, I still have to use it!"

"Well, maybe less for you." Lilac said. "You've probably got a better healing factor than Carol does. The 'week' thing is for her. She used to get cuts all the time because she never could say no to a dare (or to sushi)."

"We all know that." Torque said, laughing as he flexed his hand slightly. "But, this does hamper my fixing my ship."

"It's not like you were gonna get much work done on it anyway." Milla said. "We're gonna have some fun while we're here and you're gonna join us."

"Well, my hand could be a problem for that too." Torque said.

"Oh, right." Milla said. "Well, maybe we could get some special medicine for it."

"No, it's fine." Torque said, walking out the door of the treehouse. "I've got something that works quickly in my ship. I'll go get it. Carol, I might need your help."

"Why me?" Carol asked, her mouth full of food.

"Because." Torque said, starting to descend the ladder to the ground (very carefully due to his injured hand). "I could use your feline reflexes and skills in case I can't find it myself."

"Whatever" Carol said, her mouth still full of food as she shoveled down the remains of her plate and chugged down her drink. She got up and walked out the door, shutting it behind her.

Torque walked over to his ship and waited. Carol walked over to him, confused before a conclusion came to her.

"There's no medicine, is there?" she asked.

"Oh, there is." Torque said. "But, it's in the cockpit where I can easily reach it."

"Then, why did you ask me to come out and help you?" Carol asked, confused.

"Because." Torque said, leaning on his ship. "I needed an excuse for the two of us to be out here that wouldn't give either of them reason to follow us."

"Why do we not want them to follow us?" Carol asked, confused.

"Because" Torque said, opening the cockpit to his ship and pulling out what resembled a spray bottle. "I told you I'd tell you what I may know about Milla's parents."

"Oh, right." Carol said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head.

"Well" Torque said, his tone a little more stern than it was before. "If I tell you this, you must promise me that you won't tell Lilac or Milla."

"Why?" Carol asked.

"This definitely isn't something for Milla to hear." Torque said, his voice a little sadder.

"Why not Lilac, though?" Carol asked.

"Well, let me tell you the story first." Torque said. "Then I'll tell you why I don't want you to tell Lilac."

"Okay, fine." Carol said. "But, it better not be boring."

"Trust me" Torque said as he began his tale. "You'd rather it be boring than how I tell it to you."

 _Fifteen minutes later—after Torque's story (I'll bet you thought I'd spill that secret in only the first chapter—ha! You'll find that little point out at the same time that Lilac and Milla do)_

"Woah!" Carol said, both sad and shocked at the same time. "I had no idea."

"Well" Torque said. "That's why you can't tell Milla. If anyone's gonna tell her, it's gonna be me."

"But" Carol asked. "What about Lilac?"

"Lilac, I have a different reason for." Torque said. "She's protective of Milla, even more so after Brevon's defeat. She'd want to get involved."

"I have noticed that." Carol said, thinking back. "But, that still doesn't mean we shouldn't tell her."

"Lilac would want to take action." Torque said. "We can't have that happen yet."

"Why not?" Carol said. "We should do something. Lilac would want to help."

"I'm not even sure they're on this planet." Torque said. "They could be, which would explain why Milla is here, but I doubt it. It was over ten years ago, so the details are fuzzy to me. I wouldn't want to put the three of you in danger because of something I know that could get you killed. I will tell them when the time is right."

"Well" Carol said. "It'll be hard, but I'll do it."

"Also" Torque added. "If I tell Lilac, there's a chance there would be a repeat of what I saw the last time she was really angry involving Milla."

"What do you mean?" Carol asked.

"Well" Torque said, a little nervous. "Lilac isn't exactly good to be around when she's completely pissed off."

"I've seen Lilac mad before" Carol said. "I'm sure you'd be fine."

"You didn't see her on the Dreadnaught." Torque said, shuddering slightly.

"What are you talking about?" Carol asked. "We were all on the Dreadnaught."

"When Lilac beat Milla" Torque said. "I saw Lilac the angriest I've ever seen her."

"Oh, I know what you're talking about" Carol said. "I saw something like that."

"Well, I'll tell you my story" Torque said. "Then you tell me yours."

"Got it." Carol said.

"Allright." Torque said, taking a deep breath. "Here goes."

 _Torque's story—just after Lilac defeats Milla—note that this told in 3_ _rd_ _person instead of 1_ _st_ _—this is done so I can show certain traits that wouldn't be noticed by Torque (his personality might prevent him from noticing them, same with Carol)—I'm doing the same with Carol's story because it's easier. Also note that the four have split up and only Lilac and Milla are in the same room (Lilac had followed her, but Milla was way ahead—led up to her capture by Brevon, the point where Lilac catches up)._

Torque looked at the screen in horror. What he saw was Lilac fighting some sort of giant dog creature. Lilac had defeated it, but it reverted to the lifeless body of Milla.

"Milla!" Torque shouted. Two tears slid down his cheeks as he punched the console under the screen.

"I dragged them into this." He said quietly. "This is my fault."

"Brevon." Torque said, his voice in a low growl. "You will pay for this. I swear to the ancients you will pay very dearly for this."

Before Torque could say anything else, however, he heard a different sound coming from Lilac.

 _With Lilac—just before the fight with Milla (Torque didn't see this, but it helps explain what he did see)_

"Let her go, Brevon!" Lilac shouted angrily, getting into a fighting stance.

"You first." Brevon said, his voice menacing.

For about five seconds, Lilac held her angry expression. But, realizing that Brevon wasn't the type to lose a stare down, Lilac sighed in defeat, removing the microchip from the port she had plugged it into. The Kingdom Stone lowered through the floor, going to a place she didn't know where.

Brevon laughed, slicing Milla's neck with his sword. Green liquid flowed from the wound (not her blood, but the green substance on Brevon's sword. Brevon dropped Milla to the ground, the puppy girl twitching both from pain and from the substance now flowing through her veins.

"You monster!" Lilac shouted, horrified at the cruelty of the man known as Lord Brevon.

"You're one to talk." Brevon said, laughing as he dropped Milla and began to leave. "Every action you've taken has led to this point. But, I don't think that I should be your main concern at the moment."

"Milla!" Lilac yelled at her newest friend and little sister figure. "Are you alright?!"

"L-Lilac…" Milla said, her red hair a little wild due to her shaking.

"It's okay, Milla." Lilac said, hugging the trembling child. "I'm right here."

"Lilac." Milla said, panting, her eyes shifting between their natural green and red. "Run."

"What?" Lilac asked, confused.

"Something's happening…" Milla said, clutching her stomach and shaking. "to me."

"Milla?" Lilac said, her voice taking on a severe worry.

"Run!" Mila shouted, her voice changing. The last thing she saw was blackness and the last thing she heard was Lilac screaming her name.

Lilac gasped in utter horror as Mila's body began to mutate and change. When she was done transforming into her new, grotesque form, she resembled a hideous cross between some sort of dog and a scorpion with two eyes, a green one on top and a red one on the bottom. It was the exact same colors that Milla was before she began to mutate. She had a scorpion's tail that opened up and shot the same green blocks and spears that Milla somehow had the power to shoot.

"Milla!" Lilac gasped as she saw the horrifying change that had come over the young child. The creature that had been Milla gave a roar that was a mix between a growl that Milla could make and a slight, almost mechanical roar. Traces of Milla's voice were buried in the creature's roar, enough that it could be identified as Milla. The creature ran around the room, blasting the green attacks at Lilac.

"It seems she doesn't like you anymore!" Brevon's voice boomed over the loudspeaker in the room.

"You won't get away with this!" Lilac shouted at the tyrant.

"Oh, please." Brevon chuckled. "You have other issues to attend to."

The creature jumped right in front of Lilac, having floated by rapidly flapping her ears similar to the way Milla could. She shot Phantom Blocks at Lilac as the dragon hybrid jumped back.

"Milla, please stop this." Lilac pleaded with what was her friend as she dodged the attacks coming from the creature's tail, having no desire to attack the child.

The creature, whether or not she understood Lilac, continued to attack with both Phantom Blocks and Super Shield Bursts. One of them struck Lilac square in the chest, slamming her into the wall. Lilac dropped to her knees, the breath knocked out of her. The dragon hybrid looked up to see another Phantom Block coming towards her face.

Lilac, thinking on instinct, quickly, spun around, throwing one of her hair whips into the path of the Phantom Block, deflecting it into the eye of the creature, causing her to howl.

Lilac, then realizing the creature's weakness, jumped and used her Cyclone on the creature, causing her to shrink back.

"Milla" Lilac whispered as a tear rolled down her cheek, the purple skinned dragon hybrid girl gathering power for the strongest technique she knew.

The creature looked at Lilac, recognition in her eyes. Lilac, though she couldn't prove it, thought she saw the creature nod in a fashion that said 'go ahead'.

"I'm sorry." Lilac said, crying as she unleashed her Dragonic energy in the form of a Dragon Boost, rocketing her into the eyes of the creature. Lilac didn't push too hard, not wanting to do too much damage, but the creature recoiled sharply, her eye exploding and the same green substance that was on Brevon's sword leaking out of the wound. The creature fell over, her body reverting back to the body of Milla. The young puppy lay face down on the ground, unmoving.

"Milla!" Lilac shouted, running over to her friend's body and kneeling down in front of it.

"Milla?" Lilac said, worried as she gently nudged Milla's body. The puppy girl didn't respond.

"No" Lilac said, almost inaudibly, tears flowing. "No, no, oh god, no."

She pulled Milla's unmoving body onto her knees and hugged it, burying her face in Milla's hair. She cried into her (Milla's, not her own) hair until she suddenly felt something touch her arm gently. She looked down to see Milla look up at her, tears in her eyes.

"I—I'm s-s-sorry…" Milla said before closing her eyes and going limp once again.

"Milla." Lilac said softly, two tears falling onto the puppy girl's body. However, these tears were different. They were a purple color instead of the normal clear, watery color (not that Lilac noticed—her eyes were clenched tightly shut).

Lilac gently placed Milla's body on the floor, Brevon's words echoing in her head: 'every move you've made has put them even further in harm's way. If you'd have stayed out of our way, we would have left them and the planet alone.'.

"That…monster." Lilac said, standing up and clenching her fists and teeth. "He hurt her and caused so much pain."

Lilac's body started to slightly shift colors for a brief instant. Her body trembled with both sadness and rage.

It was at this point that Torque (who was watching from the security room) realized that something was a little off with Lilac. For the first time in a long time, he felt true fear, fear specifically directed towards Lilac, someone he'd never ever felt scared of before (for the five or so days he'd known her).

"BREEEEEVOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!" Lilac shouted at the sky (space?), her voice filled purely with rage in a shout loud enough to wake the dead (Milla's body didn't move, however). A purple fire surrounded the dragon hybrid as her hair turned a darker shade of purple. The different 'sections' (I have no idea what to call them) of her hair turned into five more hair whips, giving her a total of seven. Her teeth became pointier, scarier. Dragonic claws burst from her gloves, ripping them open. Her skin became slightly (as in not very much in the visible sense) scalier, sort of resembling the dragons of myth. But the scariest part of her metamorphosis was her eyes. They turned from their normal lilac-ish shade to a blood red, anger emanating from them like Superman's heat vision (though the anger didn't melt anything).

"No way!" Torque said from the security room. "Lilac's become—no, it couldn't be. She doesn't have enough to do that. It's impossible. But, yet…"

Lilac activated a Dragon Boost that held at least three times the energy of the one she'd used prior, sending her out of the room at a speed which Torque couldn't follow.

 _In the present_

"So that's why…" Carol said. "I understand why she was yelling about Milla. I just thought that Brevon had attacked her and left her for dead, but I didn't push it. That also explains why she fought Brevon like she did."

"Yeah." Torque said sadly.

"What do you mean 'hybrid', though?" Carol asked, a confused expression on her face.

"Lila's not a full blooded dragon." Torque said.

"How do you know?" Carol asked.

"She has two hair whips." Torque said. "Full blooded dragons have seven."

"But" Carol said, thinking. "She had seven after she got really mad after fighting Milla."

"I think she took on the appearance of a full blooded dragon when she let her anger loose, something I'll call 'Dragon Rage'." Torque said, hypothesizing. "And her anger was directed toward Brevon, so she most likely went to fight him."

"That explains a lot in that fight" Carol said.

"Another reason" Torque said. "Is that Brevon wouldn't have kept her alive if she was."

"What do you mean?" Carol asked.

"Brevon wouldn't have dared torture and mutilate her if she was a full blooded dragon." Torque said. "Brevon is a merciless killer, but not even he would risk having a dragon for an enemy."

"Then why would he torture her if she was even part dragon?" Carol asked. "If he doesn't want to fight a dragon, why even fight a hybrid?"

"He wanted to see how strong a hybrid could be" Torque said in a darker tone. "As compared to a full-blood. Lilac is very durable person and Brevon was impressed by it. Well, it would seem that it got him in the end."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Carol said, realizing something. "Where were you in the Brevon fight?! We could've used your help!"

"I went to get Milla's body to the ship." Torque said. "I tried to get back and help the two of you take on Brevon, but I was too late by the time I took Milla's body to the ship and returned to where I could make it to the warp drive."

"Well," Carol said, a proud look on her face. "I handled part of Brevon. Lilac took on the rest. Thinking about it, I guess we didn't really need you. We were pretty awesome by ourselves."

"What do you mean 'part of Brevon'?" Torque asked, confused.

"He tried to attack me with that frog thing that attacked us in the glacier just before we got to the Dreadnought. But I took it out in no time flat!"

"That's impressive." Torque said.

"Well" Carol said, clenching her fist. "Then he sent out a robot suit that was a little harder, but I still kicked its butt!"

"What did Lilac do?" Torque asked.

"Well" Carol said. "Your story sort of explains why she acted like she did in the fight with Brevon."

"Tell me." Torque said, interested.

"Well" Carol said, pointing at herself. "To get a good story, I'll start at the part where I kicked his butt for a while, and then I'll tell where Lilac comes in."

"Fair enough." Torque said.

"Well" Carol said. "I made it to the warp drive where the Kingdom Stone was being held…"

* * *

Well, Lilac can go Super Saiyan. Not really, but i'm not saying it's not based a little off of the iconic warrior. Where are Milla's parents? And what does Torque know about Milla's parents? Well, you'll find out later :-P

The pic for the 'Dragon Rage' will be on my deviantart account under the same name as this account later today. Next chapter is the Brevon fight. Hopefully, i captured these characters close to the originals. Like i said in the beginning, cut me a little slack. I've never written a fic based off of a canon using characters from said canon. Most characters i've had in my fics were all pretty much OCs. I loved this game and really want to do it some great justice when i write this. Well, now i've got to write an epic Brevon fight, so i'll see you later. Also, tell me what you think so i can know if i need to fix anything (which i probably do).


	3. Torque's back Part 2: Lilac's Rage

Chapter 2: Torque's Back Part 2: Lilac's Fury

On a side note, the Lilac 'Dragon Rage' drawing is on Deviantart under the same username as this account if you want a reference. And I edited the summary to more fit the info of the story.

 _Previously on Freedom Quest:_

 _-"Torque's coming later."_

" _I'll bet he's crashing over here right now."_

 _-"Damn fuel gauge! Should have fixed it back at headquarters!"_

 _-"Well, my ship needs quite a bit of repairs. I'm not gonna do them now because I'm a bit too disoriented to_

 _-"I got you guys some souvenirs"_

" _Cool!"_

 _-"Milla, this locket is for you."_

" _Shiny!"_

" _Yeah, you can put a picture of your friends or family in it."_

 _-"Oh, wait, I'm so sorry!"_

 _-"We can look for your parents."_

" _Yeah! What were their names? That could help us."_

" _Their names were Cara and James Basset!"_

 _-"C-c-carol. Can you help me get some medicine from my ship?"_

 _-"What do you know about them?"_

" _You can't tell them yet."_

 _-"Why can't we tell Lilac?"_

" _She'd want to take action. I need some time to prepare before we tell them. I have no idea what we'd face if we were to take any action."_

" _Fine, but, you know she's gonna want in."_

" _Trust me, this can't be done without all four of us."_

 _-"So, what happened to Lilac on the Dreadnought?"_

" _Well, she sort of changed form."_

" _I thought she looked different when she took on Brevon."_

" _You saw it too?"_

" _Yeah! Tell me what you saw."_

" _You too. I'd like to hear what happened when Lilac fought Brevon."_

 _-"Well, I made it to where Brevon had put the Kingdom Stone…"_

 **Freedom Quest Chapter Two: Torque's Back Part Two: Lilac's Rage**

 _Carol's flashback—Final Dreadnought, Level 4 (around the same time that Lilac fought Milla)—note: this story has thoughts from other characters. While Carol doesn't have the ability to read minds, these thoughts are included to give effect to the story—also, this will not be told in Carol's words, it will be 3_ _rd_ _person like Torque's, but will have notes of Carol's personality._

The green wildcat ran into the large room that housed what she assumed to be the warp drive, the Kingdom Stone resting inside (note that this is in the area where the final fight takes place, not where the Milla fight takes place).

"The Kingdom Stone!" Carol exclaimed, her eyes sparkling in the beauty of the bluish stone.

"Ha ha!" Carol laughed, making a fist. "I got here first! Take that, Lilac!"

"Well" a sinister voice said from behind her. Carol turned around to find what resembled a giant frog robot. "It seems that you've made it. Well, you'll be very unhappy to know that you're going to fail."

"Prove it!" Carol said, a cocky expression on her face and her claws unsheathed.

Brevon said nothing as the giant frog robot leapt towards her, shooting lasers from where a mouth would be.

Carol dodged the lasers, her feline agility aiding her. She leapt up, slashing at the red circle that had proven to be the weak spot of the robot the last time she had fought it. With a few very quick slashes, the frog robot was put down.

"Very good." Brevon said, coming out of the frog robot, which flew away and exploded in midair. "But you'll have to do much better than that if you want to beat me!"

"Bring it on!" Carol taunted. "I'll take you on!"

"Very well, then." Brevon said, a mech suit that was about twice his height forming around him. "I will enjoy killing you."

"Just try it!" Carol shouted, showing her teeth a little.

Brevon charged at Carol, streams of fire erupting behind the mech. Carol ducked to avoid the monstrous mech, but one of the streams singed her tail a little.

"Yowch!" the green wildcat yelled, jumping and holding her tail. "My tail's on fire!"

"Foolish girl!" Brevon said, hovering in the air with the rockets on the mech. "You've walked into a losing fight!"

"It's not over yet!" Carol shouted, jumping onto the wall at the edge of the room and leaping up it, one of her trademark skills.

Carol then leapt at the mech suit, slicing at it with her sharp claws. For the most part the suit was unharmed. But, as Carol slashed wildly at the suit, which was flailing to remove her off, she struck the head in just the right place to cause visibility to be lost. The mech suit crashed to the ground, the mighty Lord Brevon stepping out of the wreckage and pushing a button on a remote control he had, teleporting the suit to another location.

"Well, girl." Brevon said, a small hint of amazement in his voice. "You've managed to defeat both of those robots."

"I'll take you down!" Carol shouted, leaping at the warlord. "I won't let you take the Kingdom Stone!"

"Foolish girl!" Brevon laughed, drawing his sword, the glowing green substance on it dripping off. "I've already won this battle. You've sealed your own doom."

Carol leapt at Brevon, claws extended. Brevon simply backhanded the green wildcat, sending her into the containment unit for the Kingdom Stone, but doing no damage to the unit. Carol got up shakily due to her impact, but righted herself and got into a fighting stance.

"You really though you could defeat me?" Brevon said, moving behind her with a speed that Carol almost didn't catch and grabbing her by the throat. "Well, see where your 'courage' has gotten you."

Carol slashed out with her claws, slashing Brevon, but not drawing blood. Brevon dropped her at the surprise of the attack.

"I'll stop you!" Carol said, panting. "The bad guys never win."

"Foolish girl!" Brevon laughed once again. "This isn't one of your comic books! This is reality! I will destroy you and each and every one of your friends."

"If I don't stop you" Carol said, preparing to go all out. "Then Lilac, Torque and Milla will!"

At this Brevon laughed again.

"You truly don't know what has happened to your friends, do you?" the tyrant asked, laughing.

"What are you talking about?" Carol asked.

"The commander" Brevon said, his voice in a growl. "Is not powerful enough to stop me and your other two friends are busy having their own little problem. Either one or both of them is probably dead at this very moment."

"You're wrong!" Carol shouted, worry beginning to enter her voice. "We will stop you!"

"Fool!" Brevon shouted. "The most powerful member of your team, the Dragon girl, is dead and the dog girl is soon to be next!"

"Lilac's not dead!" Carol shouted, refusing to believe it. "I know she's not! She would never die to someone like you!"

"Oh, she didn't die to me." Brevon said, his voice quieter, but still sinister.

"What do you mean?" Carol asked.

"Your other friend was the reason she died." Brevon said.

"I don't believe you!" Carol shouted, lunging at Brevon.

"Such violence for a child." Brevon taunted, either dodging or blocking all of Carol's attacks. "I would've expected you to have better self-control."

"You'll pay for hurting my friends!" Carol shouted at the green skinned tyrant.

"Well, what do you think you're going to do about it?" Brevon asked, hitting Carol with his sword, sending her into the wall.

"It seems you're the last one in my way." Brevon noted with small amusement. "I'm not sure how the commander died, but I haven't seen him yet, so I'm assuming he's dead. And the half-breed and dog girl are unable to fight at the moment. That leaves you. You've got resolve, I'll give you that, but even that only goes so far."

"I will fight you!" Carol shouted, standing even though she had almost no energy left to fight. "For my friends!"

"And where are your friends now?" Brevon taunted. "The afterlife? Dead?"

Almost as if on cue, the wall behind Carol exploded, a figure standing in the rubble.

Carol looked at the figure and gasped. Even Brevon was a little shocked.

The figure was wearing a blue pair of boots with a type of gold wing on the backs. She had on a blue combination tank top and shorts outfit. Her skin was a shade of light purple and seemed slightly scaly. She wore blue gloves made of a leathery material, but they were ripped at the fingers, dragonic claws having torn through them. Her hair was a dark purple and was branching out into seven long strands that seemed like whips. The 'whips' seemed to move as if she was underwater, flowing and twitching with energy. Part of her hair fell into her eyes, almost covering up her right eye. Her eyes, which were probably the scariest feature of her entire figure, were a blood red and seemed to emanate pure wrath and anger. The expression of her face was one of pure rage and anger, the expression focused on Brevon. What looked like a purple fire surrounded her, exuding power.

"Lilac?" Carol asked, pretty much shocked and even a little scared of her best friend.

" **Brevon, you will pay for what you've done!"** Lilac shouted at Brevon, taking a few steps forward.

"Well" Brevon said, sneering. "It's the dragon hybrid. You've actually come to fight me? I'm impressed you could defeat your companion like that."

" **I will stop you here and now!"** Lilac shouted at Brevon, her hair whips beginning to glow a little bit. **"You will pay for what you did to Milla!"**

"Oh, really?" Brevon laughed. "And how are you going to do that?"

" **I WILL TEAR YOU TO PIECES, YOU BASTARD!"** Lilac shouted, pure venom and anger in her voice. The dragon hybrid rushed towards Brevon with the intention of punching him, but several giant blue hopping crab robots (I don't know what they're called) appeared right in front of her, preventing her advance.

"Well" Brevon laughed. "It seems that you're a little busy at the moment."

The next two seconds were filled with Lilac attacking the crabs, killing them.

" **Your machines won't save you from the dragon you've unleashed!"** Lilac shouted, the fire surrounding her intensifying. **"No matter what you throw at me, I'm going to make you PAY!"**

"I'd like to see you try!" Brevon said, taunting the enraged dragon hybrid.

Lilac gave a yell and charged at Brevon and throwing a powerful Superman punch, which Brevon blocked with his sword. The two of them became locked in a power struggle, neither of them giving in or gaining an advantage.

" _This girl"_ Brevon thought as he struggled against the raging dragon hybrid. _"She's much stronger than I anticipated. It would seem as though I underestimated her."_

Lilac brought back her other fist and punched Brevon right in the face, the force of the punch throwing the tyrant off of his feet.

Brevon lunged, Lilac lunging as well, the two of them throwing punches rapidly, some striking and others not.

" _Her aura has skyrocketed!"_ Brevon thought. _"She's a hybrid. She shouldn't have this much power. She's almost as powerful as I am."_

Brevon then lunged with his sword, cutting a gash in Lilac's arm. Brevon then began to slice Lilac again and again. Carol watched in horror as her best friend was slashed with Brevon's merciless sword over and over again. Lilac, however, didn't move as she was being attacked over and over again. When Brevon ceased his attack, Lilac was covered is slices and gashes. The green substance from Brevon's sword was leaking from some of the wounds, dark purple blood leaking from the others. The dragon hybrid's head was looking downward, her eyes closed.

"Lilac?" Carol asked, worried that her best friend was dead.

"It seems that you had more talk than walk, dragon." Brevon laughed as Lilac began to tremble.

"Heh" she chuckled. "heh heh."

"Huh?" Carol asked, confused as to why Lilac was laughing when she had to be in a large amount of pain.

Lilac's laugh had risen to an almost insane level at this point. She looked at Brevon with an insane and enraged grin on her face.

" **Go ahead, Brevon!"** the dragon hybrid taunted, her wounds healing almost instantly. **"Hack at my limbs! Take all day if you want. Do it and we'll see how hard I BITE BACK!"**

As soon as she had said that, Lilac lunged toward Brevon, throwing a flurry of punches and using her hair whips to inflict massive amounts of pain on the green skinned tyrant's body.

" **You hurt Milla!"** Lilac shouted, punching Brevon into the wall behind him so hard that the wall actually dented massively from the impact.

" **NOBODY…"** Lilac shouted, punching straight into Brevon with a punch propelled by a very powerful Dragon Boost.

" **HURTS…"** Lilac shouted using another powerful Dragon Boost, drilling into Brevon and pushing him further into the wall.

" **MILLA!"** Lilac shouted, completely enraged, charging up a Dragon Boost that even surpassed the power of the blue rings in the Pangu Valley temple. The Dragon Boost shot straight through Brevon, sending him through the next three rooms.

Lilac stood in front of Brevon, panting angrily as the fire around her dissipated and she fell backward. She would have hit the ground had Carol not caught her.

"Well, well well" Brevon said, coughing due to the hole in his chest. "It seems the dragon hybrid has lost this fight."

"You've taken a lot of injuries yourself." Carol said, holding Lilac with one hand and baring her claws on the other. "You're not going to leave this ship alive. Not if I have anything to say about it."

"Foolish girl!" Brevon laughed, actually standing up and drawing his sword. "If you think you'll make it out of here alive, you're sadly mistaken."

"You can't stop me." Carol said. "I'm taking Lilac and the Kingdom Stone back to Avalice."

"Not quite!" Brevon said, pulling a device out of his suit of armor he wore. He pushed a button on it and red emergency lights flashed, a voice shouting of the ship's imminent self-destruct. "You won't get out of this ship either."

"Well, you're going to die first!" Carol shouted, putting Lilac on the ground and leaping at Brevon. However, before she could strike the tyrant, a small explosion came in between them, hiding Brevon from her view. When the smoke cleared, Brevon was gone.

"Darn it!" Carol thought, urgency overtaking her mind. "Got to get out of here! Can't leave without Lilac though."

Carol ran over to Lilac, picking her up and slinging her over her shoulders, fireman style. As she ran past the containment area for the Kingdom Stone, she stopped and looked at it.

" _I need to take it"_ Carol thought as she saw the entire reason they had pulled Shang Mu and Shang Tu into this fight. _"But if I take it, I can't carry Lilac. I guess I'll come back for it if I can. Lilac comes first."_

The green wildcat ran as fast as she could manage with someone who weighed more than she did on her back (Lilac is about twenty pounds heavier than Carol, being older). After about ten minutes, she made it back to the ship, finding Milla inside.

"Milla!" Carol cried, putting Lilac down and running over the unconscious puppy.

"No time!" Torque called from the cockpit. "Buckle yourself and Lilac up so we can get out of here! The ship's about to blow!"

"On it!" Carol said, quickly attending to the tasks Torque had told her to as the ship roared to life, shooting out of the Dreadnought like a bullet, rocketing back down to Avalice.

 _In the present time_

"And you know the rest." Carol said, leaning back against a tree.

"That's impressive." Torque said, amazement on his face.

"I know." Carol said, checking out her nails. "I was pretty awesome."

"Yes, you were." Torque said, chuckling a little. "But, I guess we should try to keep Lilac from entering that state again."

"What do you mean?" Carol asked.

"If she enters that state again" Torque said. "There's no telling what she could destroy."

"Well" Came a voice from a tree overhead. "I've always had a good grip on my emotions. I think we'll be fine."

"Lilac?" Torque asked, a little nervous. "When'd you get here?"

"I heard the entire story of the Dreadnought." Lilac said. "We waited about twenty minutes for you guys to come back in, but you didn't so we came out here."

At this Torque's vital signs returned to normal (not that anyone other than Carol, who had the best hearing of the group, even better than Milla's, could pick up), realizing that Lilac and Milla (especially Milla) hadn't heard something that Torque wasn't ready to tell them.

"You did great Carol!" Milla called from the tree. She and Lilac dropped to the ground in front of Carol and Torque. "I sure wouldn't have been able to face Brevon without being really scared."

"I was scared." Carol said. "Not as much as Lilac would have been, but I was a little scared."

"From what you told Torque" Lilac said. "You actually handled yourself pretty well. I'm proud of you."

"You did better." Carol said. "You were the one that went Super Saiyan and beat up Brevon himself."

"Well, either way" Lilac said. "You fought him and did a good job."

A growl came from Carol's stomach, startling Torque.

"Who cares about who did what!" Carol shouted, running back to the house. "I still need to finish the sushi!"

"How are you still hungry?!" Torque asked, surprised that the green wildcat still had room in her stomach after all the things she'd eaten.

"I'm a big girl!" Carol called back, making it up the ladder in a single jump. "I need my nourishment."

"How are you guys not starving when she's around?" Torque asked.

"We make supply runs every three days." Lilac said nonchalantly.

"That does make sense." Torque said, accepting the answer. "Well, I'm still a little hungry. I could use a little more food. Let's go before Carol eats it all."

"Agreed." Lilac said, the three of them running back towards the treehouse to ensure that they would get some food.

 _Later that night—3 AM_

Torque was woken up from his sleep on the couch by a noise coming from the kitchen. He walked into the kitchen to find Lilac in a white nightgown making herself something involving mayo, tomatoes, lettuce, and various other ingredients (Torque's first assumption was a sandwich or salad of sorts).

"Can't sleep, huh?" he asked, startling Lilac, who jumped and flung the knife she was using into the air (Torque was confused as to why Lilac jumped so high, being someone who didn't scare very easily—it happens when you live with people like Carol and Milla for an extended period of time), getting into a fighting stance. Torque caught the knife, putting it into the sink.

"Torque?!" Lilac quietly exclaimed, dropping her fighting stance. "How long have you been there?"

"Not long." Torque said, leaning on the counter. "But you seem to have had a nightmare."

"What would make you say that?" Lilac asked, getting slightly defensive.

"Well, I can't prove this" Torque said, standing up. "But I'm pretty sure that dragons, especially water dragons, don't sweat in bed from getting a little too warm."

"What?" Lilac asked, looking down to find she was indeed a little damp (for lack of a better word) and glossy (for still lack of a better word).

"So" Torque asked, pouring himself a glass of milk and sitting down at the table. "Are you going to tell me or am I gonna have to ask?"

"What makes you think I'll tell that?" Lilac asked.

"Because you trust me." Torque replied. "Take it from me; it's easier to tell what your nightmare is than to bottle it up. If you bottle it up, it'll all spill out when you both least expect it and least desire it to."

"Like you've never had a nightmare." Lilac argued.

"I'm a soldier." Torque said. "I've had my fair share, but they don't bother me as much anymore. There are better things to be afraid of."

"Well…" Lilac surrendered, sitting down with her food (it was a sandwich). "I'll tell you."

"Great." Torque said, sipping his milk. "I'll promise not to laugh if it's actually funny."

"Ha ha." Lilac said sarcastically, taking a bite of her sandwich. "Actually, I had another one last week, but Carol woke me up to tell me that Milla was having one."

"Weird." Torque said. "So, what was this one about?"

"Well" Lilac said, taking another bite. "It was about something that I can't explain."

"What?" Torque asked.

"Well, I was in a dark place" Lilac began her story, shuddering a little. "And I was all alone…"

 _Lilac's nightmare (yes, another flashback type thing. Well, this gives some exposition and helps segway future chapters)_

The purple skinned dragon hybrid looked all around her at her surroundings, finding out that she was truly alone.

Suddenly, images flashed before her eyes. Milla, Carol, Torque, Spade (she became confused as to why Spade was in the images flashing before her eyes), and certain others, all of them dead and mutilated. Bloody corpses of her friends materialized, lying around her and blood leaking, staining her boots. She sank to her knees in horror, blood then staining her skin red.

A voice echoed in her head, dominating her train of thought.

" **Every action you've taken"** a very familiar, feminine voice boomed in her head. **"has led to this outcome. If you hadn't interfered, they'd have survived."**

"Get out of my head!" Lilac shouted, putting her fists up to her ears and looking around for the source of the voice, but not finding it.

" **Foolish little Sasha!"** the voice laughed. **"I'm a part of you! You can't escape me! I know you better than you know yourself"**

"I am not you!" Lilac screamed, standing to her feet and yelling. "You don't know me!"

" **Oh, but I do."** The owner of the voice said, stepping into Lilac's vision.

Lilac gasped at the sight of the speaker. She looked almost exactly like her, save for her dark purple hair with seven hair whips instead of two, her dark purple claws that pierced her gloves, and her blood red eyes.

"What are you?!" Lilac exclaimed, the sight of the darker version of herself unsettling her.

" **Can't you tell, Sasha?"** the darker Lilac asked, her voice now sinister.

"Why do you keep calling me that?" Lilac demanded.

" **That's your name, isn't it?"** the darker Lilac asked, her voice sinister, stepping closer to Lilac.

"How did you know that?" Lilac asked.

" **I told you"** the darker Lilac said. **"I'm a part of you."**

"You're not a part of me!" Lilac shouted, getting into a fighting position. "You can't be me!"

" **Here, let me prove it."** The darker Lilac said, moving at a speed untracked and grabbing Lilac by the throat. **"I've felt everything you've felt, seen everything you've seen. Let me help you relive some of them."**

The darker Lilac punched Lilac in the stomach, causing Lilac to cough out blood. But, almost instantly, the pain of the punch was soon replaced by another sensation. She felt something cold on her forearms and shins, but there was nothing there. She felt a burning pain in her head, right where her hair joined her head. In addition to the pain, Lilac felt a familiarity, but she grasped for the circumstances. Realization hit her like a truck as her eyes widened and she gasped, just before the feeling of eight hundred thousand volts shot through her body, despite the fact that nothing was happening to her. Her blood curdling screams would have woken the dead, but the darker Lilac just grinned evilly.

She dropped Lilac to the ground, the dragon hybrid writhing in pain. The look on Lilac's face was one of pure shock and horror.

" **Believe me now?"** the darker Lilac asked, ceasing Lilac's pain. Lilac shuddered for about thirty seconds before standing up.

"Just because you can cause me to remember that pain" Lilac said, still defiant. "doesn't mean you can be me."

" **Oh?"** the darker Lilac said inquisitively. **"Then let me show you something only you know."**

The darker Lilac grabbed Lilac by the throat once again, the dragon hybrid tensing in expectation of the cruel pain she had now endured twice. However, something else happened: the darker Lilac put her hand up to Lilac's forehead, touching it. Instantly, Lilac saw a memory she'd almost forgotten.

 _Lilac's memory_

"But, Spade!" an eight year old Lilac pleaded with her good friend. The eleven year old panda was walking, his steely eyes focused on his destination. "Why are you doing this?"

Lilac was wearing a blue shirt and blue pants. She had on blue boots and a pair of blue children's gloves on.

"What do you care?" Spade asked, turning around and confronting Lilac. "You don't understand anyway!"

Spade was wearing a black shirt with red pants. He was clutching a necklace that hade an Ace of Spades on it.

"But, Spade" Lilac said, still trying to convince her friend to reconsider his choice. "They're not good guys."

"What do you know about good guys?!" Spade demanded, grabbing Lilac by her blue shirt and lifting her up to his face. "You're not Miss Goody Two Shoes yourself."

"What do you mean?" Lilac asked. "I try to do the right thing all the time."

"Oh yeah?" Spade asked, his tone getting slightly angrier. "What about all the people you seriously injured in that fight back there?!"

"What are you talking about?" Lilac asked, confused.

"You mean you seriously don't know?" Spade asked, also confused at this point. "You changed and had an insane amount of power."

"I did?" Lilac asked.

"Yeah." Spade said. "And you nearly killed two people because they threatened Carol."

"I'd never do that." Lilac said, horrified. "I'd never kill someone."

"But you almost did!" Spade shouted.

"I'd never do that!" Lilac shouted now.

"You're not getting it, are you?" Spade began to say before a small rustling in the bushes behind the two of them interrupted him.

"I know you're there." He said to the bush, putting Lilac back on the ground. "Come on out, Carol."

Out of the bushes came a small green wildcat wearing black shorts and a black shirt. She had an ashamed expression on her face, like she'd been caught in the cookie jar. This was Carol at age six.

"Carol." Lilac said, partially scolding. "Why did you follow us? I thought I told you to stay back at the clubhouse."

"I didn't want to be left out of the fun." Carol said, looking at the ground.

"Oh, Carol." Lilac said, hugging her best friend. "It's fine. You can come if you want."

"Seriously?" Spade said, irritated. "Are you going to get her to convince me not to go along with this?"

"She just wants to come along." Lilac said, rubbing Carol's head in between her ears.

"Whatever." Spade said, turning around and continuing walking. "Just don't let her slow us down."

"I wanna ride fast!" Carol said cheerily.

Lilac picked up the young wildcat, putting her on her back. Lilac then walked quickly to keep up with Spade.

Eventually, the three of them reached a peculiar building in Shang Tu. In front of it was a green wildcat with a black tank top and black ninja pants (I don't know what to call them). She had a spear in her hand and her eyes were a very dark green. There was a bright red scarf around her neck. She looked about thirteen in age. Before they reached her, Carol called out to her.

"Carla!" came her voice, excited as the younger wildcat jumped off of Lilac's back and ran up to the older wildcat, Carla, who picked her up and hugged her.

"How've you been, little sis?" Carla asked her younger sister. "You're getting big."

"Great!" Carol said, jumping on Carla's shoulders, laughing the whole time.

"Well well well" Carla said, looking at Lilac. "Look at you, Lilac. You've become a fine looking hedgehog."

"I'm a dragon, not a hedgehog." Lilac said, putting on a pouty face.

"I'm just kidding with you." Carla said, ruffling Lilac's hair as she laughed.

"And Spade" Carla said, looking the panda boy over. "You've gotten buffer."

"Whatever." Spade said, not interested in catching up with the older wildcat girl.

"So" Carla asked, leaning on the door and putting her spear down. "Have you guys come to keep me company on my job or is it something else?"

"I'm here to join your group." Spade said. Carol actually stopped and stared at the panda for a few seconds.

"Wait, what?" she asked, dumbfounded. "You want to join the Scarves? You do know we're thieves and assassins right? A prince, even a half-brother to the heir wouldn't want to have a reputation among thieves and mercenaries."

"You heard me." Spade said, his voice firm. "Let me join."

"Well, you do have pretty good fighting skill from what I've seen…" Carla said, thinking. "I guess it would be okay."

"I wanna join too!" Carol said, shooting her fist in the air.

"I don't know, little sis." Carla said, taking Carol off of her shoulders. "You might get hurt."

"Well" Carol said, thinking. "Maybe Lilac could come too?"

"I guess." Carla said, then turning to Lilac. "Well, Lilac, are you in?"

"I don't know." Lilac said, unsure. "I don't think I could do thievery or assassination."

"We'll train you, trust me." Carla said, reassuring the young dragon hybrid.

"Pleeeeeaaaaase?" Carol begged, clasping her hands together. "We could have all kinds of fun together."

"Oh, all right.' Lilac said, walking up to Carla and shaking her hand.

"Well" Carla said, digging into her pockets. "You'll need these."

In her hands were three red scarves, the signature attire of the gang (at least the most notable). She handed one of them to each of the three kids present. Carol looked at hers, noticing that her sister had signed it herself. The green wildcat instantly tried to tie it onto her neck, struggling in vain for a short time until Carla tied it. Spade tied his scarf onto his arm, noting that it had no signature. Lilac noticed that hers had no signature either, tying hers around her neck as well.

"Aww" Carla said, grabbing the three of them into a hug. "You guys look so cute!"

"I didn't join the most notorious gang of thieves and mercenaries in the three kingdoms" Spade said, breaking free of Carla's grip. "to look 'cute'."

"Well" Carla said, taking Carol's hand and opening the door into the building behind her. "Let me take you to prepare you for your initiation."

"Initiation?" Lilac asked.

"Of course." Carla said. "What, did you think just because you put on a red scarf you're officially part of the group? No, you have to train hard and become strong and prove that you can be good members."

"Let's do it." Spade said, walking through the door.

"He has a lot to prove, doesn't he?" Carla asked Lilac, sighing.

"I guess so." Lilac said.

"I don't see how joining the Scarves will help him prove himself to his father." Carla said.

"I guess he just wants to become strong." Carol said, grinning. "Like me and Lilac are gonna become."

"I guess you're right." Carla giggled, leading the two girls into the Red Scarves' base.

"You know" Carla said as the doors closed behind them. "We should pick a better hiding place. This one is too easy to find. I found this great place in the sewers we could use…"

 _In Lilac's dream world_

"You." Lilac realized. "You were what Spade was talking about when he said I changed."

" **Precisely."** The other Lilac said, grinning evilly.

"Wh-who are you?" She asked, now terrified of this individual.

" **I'm you."** The darker Lilac said again. **"But, calling myself Lilac wouldn't work, so let's call me Lavynnia."**

"But, that's…" Lilac started to say.

" **Your middle name?"** the darker Lilac—Lavynnia—said, knowing Lilac's question. **"I know."**

"How did you access that memory?" Lilac asked.

" **I have access to all of your memories."** Lavynnia said, laughing. **"I just chose the one of how you joined the Scarves because it was one only you would remember. I also have access to the one of when you left the Scarves, but you'll see that one again later."**

"Why are you doing this?" Lilac asked, panting from the physical and psychological pain she had received.

" **To show you"** Lavynnia said, running her fingers through Lilac's hair. **"That I have the full power to destroy you from the inside out."**

"Why would you destroy me?" Lilac asked, struggling in vain to remove the hands of the obviously stronger Lavynnia from her throat. "Wouldn't that destroy you too?"

" **You really don't get it, do you?"** Lavynnia asked, laughing. **"I could kill you right now and use your body as I see fit, but I won't. I still have a use for you."**

"I won't let you have my body!" Lilac shouted, kicking Lavynnia in the head and getting into a fighting stance.

" **Foolish Sasha."** Lavynnia cooed, getting into her own fighting stance. **"I really didn't want to break you so suddenly, but if you insist on being so naughty, I'll guess I'll have to."**

"You won't beat me that easily, monster!" Lilac shouted, running forward and flinging one of her hair whips toward Lavynnia, who caught it almost effortlessly.

" **Well"** Lavynnia taunted, her eyes flashing green for a second. **"It seems you don't know how to use your full strength yet. Well, let me show you just what I can do."**

Lavynnia then slashed Lilac's arm with the claws on her hand, actually drawing blood from Lilac. The dark purple blood ran down Lilac's arm.

" **It seems that your blood is still pure."** Lavynnia said, noting Lilac's blood. **"You've got a long way to go before you reach my level."**

"I won't let you take my body!" Lilac shouted, flinging her other hair whip at Lavynnia, this one actually hitting her and cutting her arm. The blood that ran down Lavynnia's arm was a mix of green and dark purple, causing Lilac to stare at it.

" **Like it?"** Lavynnia asked, her tone sinister as she licked her wound. **"It's my completion."**

"What are you!?" Lilac asked, shocked.

" **Your perfection."** Lavynnia said, laughing. She pulled her hand back to strike Lilac again, but suddenly she stopped.

" **What is this?!"** she cried, beginning to fade away. Lilac looked at her for a minute before feeling a jolt in her body, not a painful shock, but a jolt as if she was waking up from a dream. She could hear someone calling her name. It sounded familiar. In fact, it sounded like…

 _In the real world_

Lilac jolted up to see Torque staring at her, a worried expression on his face.

"Torque?" Lilac asked, noting said expression.

"You were telling me about your nightmare" the green skinned Chaser said, sitting down. "And then you fell asleep and writhed in your sleep. I considered getting Carol and Milla, but you were simply muttering something about Spade and someone else named Lavynnia."

"I had the worst nightmare." Lilac said. "This darker version of me that looked like Carol described as fighting Brevon on the Dreadnought. She antagonized me and completely intimidated me."

"Intimidated you?" Torque asked, shocked. "She must have been scary then, scarier than when I saw her."

"I guess." Lilac said, shuddering. "She made me re-experience my torture at the hands of Brevon and then showed me a memory that I tried so hard to forget."

"Well, I won't push it if you don't want me to." Torque said.

"It's fine." Lilac said. "But, I'm just too tired to tell you in detail. I'll tell you in the morning."

"Fair enough." Torque said. "But, don't hurt yourself sleeping."

"I won't." Lilac said. "But, there's one thing I want you to tell me."

"What?" Torque asked.

"What you know about Milla's parents." Lilac said as Torque's eyes widened. "I know you know something, especially after you broke that glass. I didn't want to say anything because I knew it might frighten Milla, but I know you told Carol."

"It's okay." A quiet voice came from the bedroom door. Torque and Lilac turned to see Milla hiding behind the frame. "I want to know what happened to them."

"I don't know." Torque said. "It's not a story to tell before bedtime."

"I'll be okay." Milla said, taking Torque's hand.

"It will give you nightmares." Torque said. "I promise I'll tell you in the morning, but not right now. Both of you get some sleep and we can talk about this more in the morning."

"Okay." Milla said happily, walking into the bedroom. But before she fully entered the room, she turned to Lilac.

"Lilac." The young puppy said to her dragon hybrid friend, moving up and hugging her. "You don't have to let the monsters get to you. We're here to help you. We'll make the nightmares go away. And that's a promise from me, and a promise from a Basset is something to value."

"Thank you Milla." Lilac said, hugging her back, a tear actually escaping her eye. "I'll remember that always."

"You're welcome." Milla said as Lilac stopped hugging her. The two of them went back into their bedroom and lay down on their beds and went to sleep.

As he watched them go, Torque pulled out a small gem from his pocket.

"Sorry, Diamond." He said to the gem. "But, my friends come first."

* * *

So, Torque has his own secrets. Well, apparently, Lilac has her own baggage as well. Will Lavynnia prove to be a problem in the quest to find Milla's parents. And what connection does she truly have to Lilac, other than being a darker side of the water dragon? Find out later in Freedom Quest.

* * *

This should be the last chapter where i revisit previous events that are already established canon (the Brevon fight). I'm not sure what else might be, but this should be the last one for now. Tell me if i missed anything or got anything wrong. I enjoy critiquing.


	4. Chasers Part One: Meeting

Chapter Three: Chasers Part 1: Meeting

Just thought I'd put it put that there's a nice pic for this fic on deviantart on the account I have under the same name as this one. The pic should have the word 'teaser' in it. I'm willing to bet that if you see the details you'll come to your own conclusions about it and how it would play out. No spoilers about it though. Also the pic of a certain character named Virginia who is revealed in this chapter should be there too.

She woke up groggily, her head spinning. She felt as if she was suspended in the air, but couldn't figure it out. Her eyes opened, blinking until the blurriness cleared from them. She realized as her vision cleared that she was indeed restrained. She noticed that she was in a strange, but well-lit room. She also felt that she had been in the same position once before. The familiarity of her position suddenly hit her like a truck. Her eyes widened in size threefold and her breathing increased twofold. Her mind raced to find out how she'd gotten herself into this situation, but her mind could only start to remember the start of the day.

 _That morning—the treehouse_

The sun poured through the windows of the bedroom where Lilac, Carol, and Milla were sleeping. The gentle rays of the sun struck Lilac in the face, causing her to open her eyes and blink rapidly. She put her hand in front of her face to shield it from the sun's light.

Suddenly, a large weight jumped on her mattress, the displacement sending Lilac onto the floor with a crash. Lilac lay on the ground, moaning.

"Lilac, are you okay?" Milla, who had gotten onto Lilac's bed, asked, worry on her face.

"Yeah, Milla." Lilac said, standing up and rubbing her back. "I'm fine."

"Okay." Milla said as Lilac changed out of her nightgown and into her traditional blue clothes. "Do you want me to wake Carol up?"

"No" Lilac said, a mischievous grin coming onto her face. "I've got this one."

Lilac crept up to Carol, who was laying on her bed with the covers sprawled over her, some parts of her body sticking out from the covers, most noticeably her arms, legs, and her entire upper body. She was wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of shorts that resembled boxers, but weren't. Her mouth was wide open as she snored loudly (her snoring acted like a fan that one sleeps with to drown out other noises). If this were a cartoon, a bubble would probably be coming out of her nose. A puddle of drool was on the pillow next to her and was continuing to leak from her mouth.

Lilac leaned over Carol, rubbing her hands together. She took a deep breath and got right up to Carol's ear.

"CAROL, THERE'S FOOD READY!" the dragon hybrid yelled into Carol's ear, causing Carl to yell in shock and jump up and sink her claws on both her hands and feet into Lilac's mattress above her, every single fur on her, from her head to her feet to her tail bristling and her eyes wide.

Lilac and Milla were both laughing on the floor. Carol looked at them with both anger and hunger.

"Where's the food?" she asked as her fur settled down again. "I'm hungry."

"It's not ready yet." Lilac said, trying to contain her laughter. "We haven't even started making it yet."

"You guys suck." Carol said, crossing her arms.

"I heard a yell!" Torque shouted, bursting into the room with his blaster drawn. "Is everything okay?"

"We're fine." Lilac said. "We just had to wake Carol up."

"Oh, right." Torque said, re-holstering his blaster. "I forgot about her sleeping habits."

"Totally worth it." Carol yawned, stretching her tired limbs.

"Well, I made some breakfast." Torque said, walking back towards the kitchen. He was about to say something else, but he was interrupted by the force of Carol rushing past him into the kitchen and sitting down at her place at the table, fork and knife in hand, almost knocking the Chaser down.

The other three beings living in Lilac's house walked to the breakfast table, sitting down. Torque went over to the stove and brought out several big plates one at a time. Opening the plates, he revealed bacon, eggs, French toast, pancakes, and waffles.

"Wow, Torque!" Lilac exclaimed, looking at the food. "You made all this?"

"Yep." Torque said as he sat down next to the three girls. "I was a pretty good cook in my old crew in the Chasers."

Carol wasn't really paying attention because she was busy beginning to pile her plate high with food. Lilac slapped her best friend's hand, stopping her from getting any more food.

"Wait until everyone else has gotten some." Lilac said, scolding the green wildcat.

"Whatever." Carol said as her stomach growled. She waited patiently as Torque, Lilac, and Milla got their food. Then she piled her plate high with all the remaining food and began to shovel it down.

"This is great!" she shouted as she finished her food. Torque just stared with wide eyes as she had finished about five times the amount of food the rest of them had in less time than them.

"Trust me." Lilac said, finishing her own food. "She could eat her own body weight and still go up for seconds, especially if it's sushi."

"Well, I'm gonna get something from the fridge." Carol said, getting up. She walked over to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of milk, downing it.

"At least she's not a picky eater." Torque said, chuckling.

"Oh, please." Lilac said, laughing. "Carol's eaten waaayyy more than that. She can actually eat more than the three of us combined."

"Boy, don't I know." Torque said.

"Hey, Torque." Milla said in a quiet voice. "Can you tell me what you didn't tell us last night?"

"What?" Torque asked, not remembering.

"About my parents." Milla said.

Torque sighed a sigh that was filled with regret and dread.

"All right." He said. "I'll tell you. But, you must understand that this is probably one of the most gruesome stories you've heard."

"It's okay." Milla said. "I'm ready to find out. If we're going to look for them, we might as well start with what you know."

"I guess you're right." Torque said. "Well, it all started before I was a member of the Chasers…"

 _Present time (still working out the kinks on that story—also, I don't think that it's the right time to reveal it quite yet)_

"That's right." She said to herself. "Torque told us what happened to Milla's parents. *shudders* That was a gruesome story. I do hope we find them if they're still alive."

"But" she said, looking around at her surroundings: a room with not much in it save for the metal panel to which she was restrained by use of magnetic cuffs. "How did I get here? After Torque told us that story, we headed to Shang Tu to check out the festival and ask the Magister if he knew anything, but what happened after that?"

She struggled to remember, but the thoughts in her head were cloudy. Thoughts of the square of Shang Tu swirled through her head along with something she couldn't place. Someone that resembled her…

"Lavynnia!" she exclaimed, remembering what had happened earlier…

 _Earlier—Shang Tu_

The four warriors traversed the streets of Shang Tu's square, admiring the bazaar like festival that was going on (it was like a big consignment sale). Different vendors sold all kinds of things and the four of them were simply checking out the festivities. They walked up to the different booths, sometimes picking items up and looking at them, others not.

"Hey Milla!" Carol called as she pulled an item off of a table. It was a short, glint katana with a jade green handle. It was covered in a simple brown sheath before Carol removed it and showed it to Milla, who had come over to see what her green wildcat friend was showing her.

"Nice sword." Milla said. "It's very shiny."

"Maybe you could wield it." Lilac, who had walked over as well, said jokingly. "and use your powers to make it like the Master Sword and shoot beams and slice through stuff like butter."

"I'm not really good with swords." Milla said. "Maybe in a couple years, but I can't hold a sword very well now."

"Also." Carol said. "I don't think you've got the guts to wield a sword. I say give it about a year and ten months and you'll be a decent swordsgirl." (this is a reference to a fic I read. Bet you can't guess which one)

"Oddly specific date." Torque said, coming over to see what Carol had shouted about. "Why that long?"

"That's how long it'll take her to get—what's the word?" Carol said, fumbling for the word she wanted.

"Jaded?" Lilac suggested.

"Yeah, that's the one!" Carol said. "That's the one."

"But, I don't want to be jaded." Milla said, not particularly liking the idea.

"It'll be fine." Carol said. "You'll be able to do a lot of stuff without fear. Like me! I've been fearless ever since I was a little girl."

"You slept with a teddy bear until you were ten." Lilac pointed out.

"I did not!" Carol argued. "You can't prove that!"

"I slept in the same room as you since you were like three." Lilac said, chuckling. "There's not many of your sleeping habits I don't know."

"What was his name?" Milla asked, curious.

"Mr. Sushi Man." Lilac said, causing everyone except Carol to laugh.

"I didn't sleep with him out of fear." Carol protested. "I slept with him because I hid a secret sushi stash inside of him."

"You really do have a sushi problem." Torque said, a grin on his face.

"Only when it's gone." Carol said, grinning and rubbing her stomach.

"She had to wash it at least once a week." Lilac said. "The other Scarves said that she must have really wanted to keep him clean, but it was actually to get the smell of sushi out of his fur."

"Well" Torque said, looking around. "What should we check out next? We can't check out too many things before we go find the Magister, but we can check out a couple more I guess."

"I wanna see the food court!" Carol shouted excitedly.

"You just ate two hours ago!" Torque exclaimed.

"But that was breakfast." Carol said. "Now it's time for a lunch snack."

"Whatever." Torque said, face palming as Carol walked over to the food court, Torque and Milla in tow.

"You guys go on a head." Lilac said, standing next to the vendor they had looked at previously. "There's some stuff I want to see here."

"Okay." Carol said. "We'll just be at the food court. Better hurry before I clean 'em out."

"I will!" Lilac said, turning back to the vendor and picking up and examining a few items before buying a couple (she didn't buy the sword if you were wondering). She went over to another cart and picked up a few items, not buying them but looking at them. She then turned and saw something that shocked her to her very core…

 _Present time_

"What did I see?" Lilac asked herself. "It might explain why I'm in this predicament. I can't remember it at all though. I must have been knocked out or something which would explain my current situation."

Before Lilac could think further though, a man walked into the room where she was. The man was a timber wolf with short, black fur. His hair was black as well. He was taller than Lilac, being about six feet tall. He wore a black pair of pants with black shoes that seemed to be made for combat. His shirt was black as was the jacket he wore over it. The jacket flared out at the bottom. He wore black gloves that were fingerless. His eyes were a black mixed with cobalt.

"Oh good." he said, his voice deep. "You're awake. Have a good sleep, princess?"

"Why am I like this?!" Lilac demanded.

"Because we didn't want you to wake up cranky and do unnecessary damage." The man said, not intimidated by Lilac's tone.

"Who are you?!" Lilac demanded. "And what have you done with my friends?!"

"Calm down." The man said, pulling what looked like a remote out of the pocket of his jacket. He pushed the button on it, causing the magnets in Lilac's cuffs to deactivate, letting her drop to the ground, the cuffs and anklets still attached to her. "We don't need a repeat of what happened in Shang Tu."

"What happened in Shang Tu?" Lilac asked, her tone shifting to worry.

"You don't remember?" the man asked, confused. "Weird. Torque did say that you didn't remember after it happened the last time."

"How do you know Torque?" Lilac asked, fiddling with the cuffs on her arms and legs.

"Well" the man said, physically ripping the cuffs off of the dragon hybrid. "He and I have known each other for a while actually. We go way back. But, actually it was your friend, Milla, who suggested you be brought here."

"Who are you?" Lilac asked. "And why would she suggest you bring me here?"

"My name is Ace." The man, Ace, said, extending his hand. Lilac shook it, feeling Ace's grip.

"Why did Milla suggest bringing me here?" Lilac asked, confused.

"Well" Ace said. "We've met before. When she was very little. About three years old. I'm the one who actually gave her those bracelets and anklets. She figured that I knew a little about things like you underwent."

"Why?" Lilac asked.

Before Ace could explain, a woman walked into the room. She was a beautiful snow leopard with light grey fur and black hair with green highlights. She wore a green shirt under a white jacket as well as white pants. She had on three inch white heels that seemed to be very durable. She had on green fingerless gloves with a small ring on her finger. The stone in the ring was a Black Amethyst. Her eyes were a nice shade of red mixed with black. Her face seemed gentle and kind, but also tough and strong.

"Oh, good, she's awake." The woman said, her voice soft and gentle. "We were hoping you'd wake up soon. My name is Shadow. Nice to meet you."

"Why am I here?" Lilac demanded of the beautiful snow leopard.

"You're here because your friends brought you here." Shadow said softly. "They're waiting in the living room for you while you were losing your dark aura and we took some of your blood."

"You took my blood?!" Lilac exclaimed, examining her body until she found a bandage on her arm. It had a dark greenish purple stain on it.

"Only a little." Shadow said as she started walking out of the room, motioning for Lilac to follow him. "There was something we needed to check. We'll tell you when we tell your friends in just a moment."

"Trust me, that's not much." Ace said. "Have you seen the Red Cross? They take like twice that much."

"Dark aura?" Lilac asked.

"Yes." Ace said. "I'll explain it to you shortly, but for now we need to explain a few things to your friends."

"Where are my friends?" Lilac asked.

"They're in the living room." Shadow said, opening the door at the end of the hallway. Sitting on couches around the room were Torque, Carol, and Milla. When they saw Lilac, they all stood up and ran and hugged her.

"Lilac!" Carol said, squeezing Lilac.

"Great to see you too, Carol." Lilac said, losing circulation in her arms and chest.

"We thought you might not make it." Carol said.

"What?" Ace asked, confused. "Why would you think that?"

"She was pretty beat up when we brought her here." Carol said.

"She had no injuries when we examined her." Shadow said. "The only injury she has is the one from when we took her blood."

"Took her blood?" Milla asked, her eyes getting a little wider.

"Scared of needles?" Shadow asked. Milla nodded slowly.

"That's understandable." Shadow said. "We had to have blood work done before we left our previous line of work."

Torque shuddered a little at that statement.

"Well, let's sit down." Ace said. "And we can talk."

Carol and Milla sat down on two chairs that reclined way back. Torque sat next to Lilac on another couch and Ace and Shadow sat down on the last couch, Shadow leaning on Ace.

"So" Ace said. "Now that we're all here, let's discuss a few details about a few things such as what happened in Shang Tu as well as our discovery."

"Who's going first?" Carol asked.

"I guess we will." Torque said. "Our little event happened first."

"Start at the earliest possible point." Shadow said. "So we can have a good understanding."

"Right." Torque said. "Well, after the Brevon fight—"

"Yeah." Ace said, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry we missed that and all, but Jenna was dying and all."

"Oh, it's fine." Torque said. "Diamond planned it so we could do it without you guys."

"Best CO ever!" Ace said, leaning back on the couch, Shadow giggling as she leaned further on him.

"Wait, you were a Chaser?" Lilac asked.

"Yep." Ace said. "Me and Shadow both. We were actually in Torque's regiment."

"Really?" Carol asked. "Cool."

"So" Ace asked. "how'd the raid go?"

"Everyone else died." Torque said.

"Really?" Shadow asked. "I heard that you were the only known survivor, but I didn't think Diamond would've gone down so easily. By the way, did she give it to you?"

"Yeah." Torque said, pulling out a small gem from his pocket. "Right before she died she made me swear to set things right and stop Brevon."

"Well, it seems she made the right choice." Shadow said, getting up and coming back a short time later with six mugs of hot cocoa and giving one to each person there.

"What about Virginia?" Ace asked.

"She wasn't there." Torque said. "She had left because she didn't want her daughter to see her if they went to Avalice."

"Why not?" Shadow asked, confused.

"She didn't want her daughter to hate her for abandoning her." Torque said.

"That sucks." Ace said, pulling out a pocket mirror shaped object similar to the one Torque had given Lilac previously and pushing a button on it. "But, I'm gonna call her so she can teleport here."

"We can teleport?" Torque asked. "That would have helped seven months ago."

"It's something Diamond and Virginia were working on for a while." Shadow said. "They were close to finishing when that raid happened. But I'm guessing Virginia couldn't finish it easily without Diamond."

"Yeah." Ace said. "well, now let's get back to what we were discussing earlier."

"So" Torque said. "It was after the Brevon fight and was a couple of days ago—"

"Hmm." Ace said, thinking before speaking to Lilac. "How old are you?"

"Fifteen." Lilac said. "why?"

"Well" Ace said. "When the papers said that a bunch of kids took down Brevon, I didn't believe it. But then they said you were a dragon and I understood why you were able to beat Brevon. Three teenagers and a ten year old would normally never have been able to take down someone like him (I'm speaking from experience here) without someone who had the strength and speed of a dragon or a Psychonix (sigh-con-ix) (you'll find out what that is later)."

"I will say." Shadow said. "I didn't believe it either until I heard that Torque was involved."

"Well, yeah." Lilac admitted. "We are the ones that took down Brevon, but anyone could have."

"Not from what I heard from Torque" Ace said, chuckling a little.

"What did you hear?" Carol asked. "Was it about me being awesome?"

"Not exactly." Ace said. "Though he did mention you. He said something about a Super Saiyan Lilac fighting Brevon."

"Super Saiyan?" Lilac asked. "From what I heard, I didn't go Super Saiyan."

"You should have seen it." Carol said. "She got these dark red eyes and this really dark purple hair with seven hair whips instead of two and was really, really angry."

"Hmmm." Shadow said, thinking. "That seems familiar."

"Yeah." Ace said. "Torque, that remind you of someone? Someone else we know with an unbridled temper?"

"I don't think so." Torque said, trying to remember.

"So" Shadow asked. "What happened next?

"Well" Lilac began. "We decided to look for Milla's parents after Torque came to visit us."

"You came to visit and didn't tell us?" Ace asked, putting on mock offense. "I'm hurt."

"One" Torque said, not falling for Ace's tone. "I came like two days ago. Two, I didn't even know you were on this planet until you opened the door and asked who it was."

"Touché." Ace said. "Please continue."

"Well" Lilac said. "Torque told us that he might have known something about her parents, something about some group called Red Blood."

"Wait" Ace said, tensing up. "Did you say 'Red Blood'?"

"Yeah." Lilac said. "Why?"

"I'd consider not embarking on your little quest." Shadow said. "That group is ruthless. Even the Chasers are advised to stay away from them."

"That's part of why I didn't want to tell them in the first place." Torque said. "I knew they'd want to."

"Understood." Ace said. "Now, let's here the rest of your story and we'll tell you what we found out."

"Well, the day after Torque got here" Carol started to explain. "We headed to Shang Tu to ask the Magister if he could help us. The festival was in town and we decided to take some time to browse before finding the Magister. I went for the sushi." (Basically at this point Carol tells most of the story of Lilac's second flashback from earlier, but I don't think it would be good to repeat that so close to itself—I'm also trying to tell this without spoiling certain things)

"So what happened to you after they left?" Ace asked Lilac.

"Well, I decided to look at some things at the stand we looked at." Lilac said. "The last thing I remember is that I saw something and I guess I blacked out."

"What did you see?" Shadow asked.

"I…" Lilac looked down, trying to figure out how to say what she wanted to say. "I saw a distorted vision of me, but it shifted into a version of Brevon."

Everyone else's eyes widened at that statement.

"The last thing I remember" Lilac said. "Was hearing a distorted laugh that sounded like mine."

"Well" Ace said. "Your friends already told me how they managed to knock you out so let's listen to what we found in our experiments."

"What did you find?" Torque asked.

"Well" Ace said. "As you know dragons usually have blood the color of their element. Only in the case of a dark dragon or a light dragon is this different, those types of dragons having purple and blue blood respectively."

"We took samples of Lilac's blood" Shadow said. "To determine if she had any underlying problems from her injuries."

"What we found" Ace said, his tone serious. "Was a form of virus we've only found in two places. Torque, I'm sure you've seen at least one of them in your time with the Chasers."

"Wait" Torque said, suspicious. "You don't mean—"

"The first place we've found it" Shadow said. "Was on the moon of the planet Korith V."

"I remember that place." Torque said, chuckling. "The only place we actually got banned from ever returning to."

"Good times." Ace said, sighing with satisfaction. "Was the one time our collateral damage exceeded one mil."

"The other place." Shadow said, clearing her throat loudly and actually causing Ace and Torque to look at her. "was on the sword of Lord Arktivus Brevon."

Well, that was unexpected. So, Lilac is infected. This could be a twist. And how did they manage to knock Lilac out after she tried to destroy Shang Tu? What is the story of Milla's parents? Maybe you'll find out next chapter.

Review and tell me what you think. I may have left some plotholes and I need to be told what they are. I enjoy criticism and will work on issues as they arise.


	5. Chasers Part Two: Virginia & th solution

Chapter Four: Chasers Part Two: Virginia and the Solution

the pic for Virginia should be on my deviantart account soon (under the same name). No spoilers about who she is yet

 _Previously on Freedom Quest_

 _-"How did I get here?"_

 _-"Well, you're awake."_

" _Who are you?!"_

" _My name is Ace and this is Shadow."_

 _-"We went to Shang Tu to try to ask the Magister if he knew anything about Milla's parents."_

 _-"You nearly destroyed Shang Tu."_

 _-"We found this virus in your blood, Lilac."_

" _It's found in two places and Torque's seen both of them."_

" _The moon of Korith V"_

" _And the sword of Arktivus Brevon"_

 **Freedom Quest Chapter Four: Chasers Part Two: Virginia and the Solution**

Torque, Lilac, Carol, and Milla's eyes all widened at this statement.

"So" Lilac asked. "I'm going to turn into a monster?!"

"Well, not exactly." Ace said. "The virus doesn't seem to be active."

"What do you mean?" Lilac asked.

"Well" Shadow explained. "It seems that the virus is contingent on the emotional state of the host. So, if the host experiences, in your case, anger, then it could cause the virus to take effect."

"But." Ace said. "As Torque has probably already told you, the virus also has a secondary attribute: internal mutation."

"Internal mutation?" Milla asked, worried.

"Yes." Ace said. "The host can have partial of full internal mutation depending on their durability and the amount of virus inside of them."

"I have it inside me too." Milla said, worry on her face. "Will I go mutate again too?"

"I doubt it." Ace said. "The virus inside you should have burned out when you mutated and reverted back. While the virus may still be dormant inside of you, Lilac is experiencing her own struggles with the virus because it was never burned out, only suppressed."

"How do we cure it?" Lilac asked.

"We'll work on that." Shadow said.

"And we examined your psyche." Ace said. "We found that you may have some form of multiple personality disorder."

"What do you mean?" Lilac asked.

"You have another entity inside of you." Shadow explained. "You must have subconsciously sealed it away, but the virus must have broken it free and started to cause you to hallucinate in certain situations. This other personality might be the distorted version of you that you are seeing."

"Lavynnia." Lilac said in almost a whisper.

"That's an interesting name." Ace said. "But your psyche is stable as long as your emotions are."

"If you get too angry" Shadow added. "You might revert again. And this time Milla might not be able to stop you."

"How did Milla save me?" Lilac asked.

"Well" Ace said. "From what Torque said, it was pretty awesome."

"You didn't hear half of the story." Torque said.

"You mean you held back some of that from us?" Ace asked, putting on mock offense.

"We kind of wanted to wait for Lilac." Torque said. "She deserves to know."

"Fair enough." Ace said. "Continue."

"Well" Carol said. "It started after we left Lilac alone at the stand…"

 _Shang Tu Square—earlier (about twenty minutes after Torque, Milla, and Carol left Lilac alone)—with Carol, Torque, and Milla_

"So" Carol said, rubbing her hands together with a huge grin on her face and a sparkle in her eyes. "Where's the sushi?"

"Really?" Torque said, looking at an energy convertor at a stand. "We should focus on finding the Magister."

"We'll do that after lunch." Carol said. "I'm hungry."

"Whatever." Torque said, realizing that he wouldn't win the fight. "But, we should get Lilac before we eat."

"Fine, fine." Carol said. "But, if I don't get sushi, I'm going to be unhappy."

"Hey" Milla said, looking out of the tent they had walked into. "What's going on out there?"

"What do you mean?" Torque asked, walking over and looking out of the tent to see people leaving the square in a hurry, some of them with terrified expressions on their faces.

"What's going on here?" he asked a rabbit woman who was running past.

"There's a powerful dark dragon destroying the square!" she cried, running as fast as she could (which was pretty damn fast) to where there was considerable shelter.

"A dark dragon?" Carol asked. "What's that?"

"It can't be." Torque said. "I only know of one dark dragon (well, technically two, but I've never met the other one) and she's not even on Avalice."

"So" Carol asked. "Should we go see what's causing the trouble?"

"Well" Torque said. "if a dragon is causing a problem, Lilac would definitely have stepped in to put a stop to it. So that could mean that either she was knocked out by the other dragon or—"

"Or what?" Carol asked.

"We should go help Lilac." Milla said, running off towards the direction they had last seen Lilac in.

"Allright." Torque and Carol said as they followed the basset hound to where she ran, which led to a terrifying sight for all of them.

In front of them was a dragon that had very dark purple hair and wore blue clothing. Her eyes were blood red and her hair was in seven whips that twitched and moved as if she was underwater. Her blue gloves were pierced by her powerful, razor sharp claws which had a strange, greenish substance on them. Her teeth were pointed and the expression on her face was one of rage and bloodlust. A dark purple fire surrounded her. She had not yet seen the three of them yet, so her gaze wasn't focused on them.

"Lilac?" Carol and Torque asked, both of them having seen this transformation come upon their friend.

"What happened to Lilac?" Milla asked, feeling traces of fear well up inside of her (they all were, but Torque and Carol had encountered this before, so it wasn't as scary as the last time).

" **Your little Sasha's not here right now."** Came the dark and sinister voice from 'Lilac's' throat as she turned and looked at them. **"But, I can take a message."**

"What have you done with Lilac?!" Carol demanded of the dark dragon. "And who's this Sasha individual?!"

" **Well, let's just say"** 'Lilac' said, her tone very sinister. **"You better hope she's not claustrophobic."**

"who are you?!" Torque demanded.

" **You may call me Lavynnia"** the dark dragon, Lavynnia, said, grinning. **"I'm just as much a part of Lilac as Sasha is."**

"Give us back our friend!" Milla said, stepping forward.

" **Oh, how precious."** Lavynnia taunted the hound girl. **"The little girl wishes to challenge me. I'm going to have to say no though. I'm having way to much fun torturing her to be bothered to do that."**

"Give me back my best friend!" Carol shouted, leaping at Lavynnia with her claws unsheathed. Lavynnia made no movement however, except to backhand Carol with such speed that no one saw it. Carol flew backwards with the speed and force of a cannonball.

"I've got you Carol!" Torque shouted, leaping in Carol's path and being hit along with Carol backwards into a stand.

" **Well"** Lavynnia said, grinning and looking at Milla. **"It's just you and me now, girly. "I'm going to enjoy this."**

"I won't let you take Lilac away from us." Milla said, her tone commanding and her expression determined. She got into a fighting stance and clenched her fists.

" **Now this is just adorable."** Lavynnia cooed, moving up to Milla with speed unknown and putting her arm around Milla and holding the back of her head. **"You really think you can do anything to stop me?"**

Milla tried to hit the dark dragon with her fist, but Lavynnia just smacked it away.

" **I'm going to enjoy slashing that determined, fiery look off of your face"** Lavynnia said, stroking Milla's chin and looking into her eyes. **"And you know what? I'll even let little Sasha have enough consciousness to hear your tortured screams. Won't that be fun?"**

Milla's eyes widened at the realization that there was no reasoning with this monster. She knew she'd have to do something before this monster literally sliced her to ribbons just for the hell of it.

" _I have to do it."_ Milla thought to herself. _"I promised him I wouldn't, but if I don't I'll never save Lilac."_

Lavynnia laughed as she pulled her claws close to Milla's skin. However, before she could make a slice in Milla's neck, a powerful green fire hit her in the chest with the force of a piston. Lavynnia was thrown backwards about twenty feet, flipping over and righting herself.

" _ **Damn."**_ She thought. _**"I felt that. What did she do to me?!"**_

Lavynnia looked at Milla to see a startling change had overcome the young hound.

Milla was holding her left bracelet in her right hand (it was orange). A green fire surrounded her left arm and green bloodshots ran into her left eye, making lightning bolt patterns on her scleras (the white part of the eye). Her expression changed from a soft, yet determined face to a more hardened, angry face.

" _Give Lilac back!"_ she shouted, her voice slightly altered.

" _ **So"**_ Lavynnia thought, holding her chest. _**"She's one of those. This may be harder than I thought. She's a class B at least and currently a high end class B. Those bracelets and anklets must be power inhibitors. If she changed that much, then she could very possibly be a class A or S or, god forbid, a class X. I'll have to end this quickly."**_

Lavynnia lunged at Milla, pulling back her claws for a powerful slash, but Milla was prepared. Unlike her normal self, this Milla was more instinct based and more brutal. She threw a punch that connected with Lavynnia's face, her left fist then sending a burst of green energy straight into Lavynnia's face. Lavynnia flew back once again, taken by surprise.

" _ **Sh!t!"**_ she thought to herself. _**"I can't draw much power at the current moment. Sasha still has enough fight left in her, even in that cage I threw her into, to restrict a lot of my power."**_

Milla leapt at Lavynnia for a Superman punch that Lavynnia countered with a powerful Dragon Claw. The two blows met in the middle, causing a power struggle between the two powerful fighters.

" **I must say."** Lavynnia said, impressed. **"For a psychic, you're pretty powerful. But, I'm done toying with you. It's time to end this."**

" _I won't let you hurt Lilac anymore!"_ Milla shouted, charging up a Phantom Block in her left hand, which was now a greenish grey color (the block, not her hand) and seemed to move like a fire. She then held the Phantom Fire behind her and cupped her hands, absorbing it. The fire reappeared and grew in size until it was the size of a basketball.

" _Give"_ Milla said, tensing her stance. _"Lilac…BACK!"_

At that Milla hurled the Fire, now a beam which put her Super Shield Burst to shame at least a dozen times.

The beam struck Lavynnia square in the chest. The dark dragon was flung back into a stand behind her, destroying it and sending her through it.

" _ **Seems I underestimated her."**_ Lavynnia thought. _**"She's a powerful psychic. I better lay dormant for a while until I get my strength back."**_

Lavynnia's hair turned back to its original shade of Lilac, the purple fire disappearing and her eyes (which were closed) turning back to their original shade.

Mlla walked over to the dark dragon, putting back on her bracelet, which caused her eye to return to normal and the green fire around her arm to disappear. She picked up Lilac's head and turned her over so she was looking up at Milla's eyes. The water dragon hybrid blinked, opening her eyes fully after a few seconds.

"Milla?" Lilac asked. "What happened?"

"You went crazy." Milla said, her eyes watering. "I thought you'd be gone forever."

"Well, I'm still here." Lilac said, giving Milla a thumbs-up. "I just blacked out for a bit there. I don't know what happened."

"You got really scary." Milla said. "Your hair turned dark purple and your eyes turned red."

"Woah." Lilac said, sounding exhausted. "I'm back to normal now, though. That monster should be gone. Well, I need to sleep. I feel really tired and I ache all over."

Lilac closed her eyes, her exhaustion and pain causing her to slip into unconsciousness. Milla picked up the dragon hybrid and put her over her shoulders. Torque and Carol, who had just picked themselves up and walked over to Milla, looked at Lilac and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good." Torque said. "You beat her. That's great. We should get her injuries checked out and take her to a place where we can see if she's going to be fine."

"I think I know one." Milla said, thinking back.

 _Present time_

"And you know the rest." Carol said.

"That's interesting." Ace said. "The two of us will look into that and contact you if we find anything."

"Got it." Torque said, nodding.

"Now" Ace said, sighing in irritation. "If only Virginia were here. I guess it's not going to work if we wish, but it'd be great to have the remainder of the old group together.

Suddenly, into the room a woman appeared in a flash of smoke. She was coughing and sputtering profanities as Lilac covered Milla's ears (which was a hard task considering the size of Milla's ears).

"Well" Ace said, amused. "It worked."

"Yeah!" the woman's voice came from the smoke, tough and angry. "But now I don't have enough power to go back home."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll find a way." Shadow said. "You always were the resourceful type."

"Whatever." The woman said as the smoke cleared, revealing her form.

The woman wore a black pair of combat boots that went halfway up her shins. She had on a black shirt that was basically a tank top that stopped just above her midriff. She wore a black pair of shorts that went halfway down her thighs. She wore black, fingerless gloves that had black claws coming out of them. Her fur itself was a grey color, including her tail and seemed to be slightly scaly. She had two grey horns that extended from her head. Her hair was black and extended into seven long, ropelike whips as well as flowed down her back. Her eyes were a grey color that seemed to show power.

"Well, Virginia." Ace said, standing up and walking over to the woman, Virginia. "It's been a while."

"Same for you." Virginia said as the two of them punched each other in the face. Lilac, Carol, and Milla just looked at them, confused.

"They do that a lot." Shadow said as she got Virginia a mug of hot cocoa. "It's their thing."

"So" Virginia said, sitting down next to Torque. "I heard some kids beat Brevon. Who are they? I want to see for myself."

"They're right here." Ace said, pointing to Carol, Lilac, Milla, and Torque.

"Well." Virginia said, looking Lilac over. "It would seem as if a dragon is responsible."

"Well, I'm only a hybrid." Lilac said.

"Really?" Virginia asked, amused at this point. "Then how did you beat Brevon?"

"She went Super Saiyan!" Carol said excitedly.

"Super what now?" Virginia asked, confused.

"Well" Carol began to explain. "Her hair went dark purple and her eyes went blood red and her claws grew and she got really powerful."

"What?" Virginia asked, her tone becoming oddly higher. "What happened?"

"Well" Lilac said, rubbing the back of her head. "I don't remember what happened much in that fight. I blacked out and only have bits and pieces."

"Lilac" Virginia asked the dragon hybrid, her tone now actually quivering a little (only Ace, Shadow, and Torque noticed it however). "What's your full name?"

"Why do you want to know?" Lilac asked suspiciously. "That's not something I'm really comfortable giving."

"I'm just curious." Virginia said, leaning closer to the dragon hybrid.

"Sasha Lavynnia Lilac." Lilac said slowly. The next sound heard was the sound of Virginia's mug dropping to the floor and breaking. Everyone looked at Virginia, whose eyes were wide and her mouth was open.

"Virginia?" Ace asked, confused. "Are you okay?"

Virginia immediately got up and ran out of the room, not even saying a word to anyone. Torque, Ace, and Shadow got worried looks on their faces.

"Should we go talk to her?" Torque asked.

"I'll do it." Ace said.

"Why you?" Torque asked.

"Because" Ace said. "I've known her longer than anyone here besides Shadow. Besides, if she starts to throw punches, I'm the only one besides Shadow that can match her in combat."

"What happened?" Lilac asked. "She just ran out of the room."

"I think I have an idea." Ace said, getting up. "I'll talk to her. Torque, help Shadow clean up that mug. I'll be back in a few minutes."

 _Outside_

Virginia sat up in the tree, holding her knees and quivering, not sure of how to take the emotions welling up inside of her. She didn't even notice when a black timber wolf jumped up into the tree (in one jump) and sat down next to her.

"What happened?" Ace asked, moving right next to her. "This isn't like you. You're normally an intimidating dark dragon that will sooner break bones than cry. Is it something to do with Lilac?"

"I can't face her." Virginia said, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"I'm sure she'd understand." Ace said.

"You don't understand!" Virginia shouted, burying her face in Ace's chest. "I abandoned her! I was scared and I abandoned her! I was scared of myself and I was scared of what had happened!"

Ace simply hugged the dragon woman and rubbed the back of her head, quietly hushing her.

"I'm sure anyone in your position would have done something along those lines." Ace said. "A fifteen year old girl, pregnant and scared. Taking your newborn child to someone who could take better care of her was probably one of the best things you could have done. But, Shadow and I were there for you."

"I know." Virginia said. "But, I also had to worry if my curse."

"Well, didn't you initiate the ritual on both you and your daughter?" Ace asked.

"Yeah." Virginia said. "I separated the darkness from both of us. So, I don't think that's a problem."

"It may be more of one than you think." Ace said. "There's another entity functioning inside her head along with the fact that she's infected with Brevon's virus."

"No." Virginia said, her eyes wide.

"I think she'll be fine." Ace said. "She's pretty strong. And she has Torque and her friends to help her. And Milla's a Psychonix, so "

"I guess you're right." Virginia said, wrapping her arms around Ace.

"I'll bet Shadow will be pissed you're getting this much attention from me like this." Virginia said, chuckling.

"I think she'd be more pissed if I didn't hug you back." Ace chuckled back, hugging his best friend.

"So" Virginia said, her composure completely regained. "Should I tell her?"

"That's your choice." Ace said, jumping out of the tree, followed shortly by Virginia.

 _Inside_

The five beings sitting inside were talking and drinking their hot cocoa when Ace and Virginia walked back in.

"How'd the talk go?" Shadow asked.

"Great." Virginia said. "Now Lilac and I need to talk privately, dragon to dragon."

"Um, okay?" Lilac said, following Virginia into the next room.

"What was that about?" Shadow asked. Ace whispered something in her ear and she nodded in understanding.

 _With Lilac and Virginia_

"So" Lilac asked. "What do you want to talk about?"

"What I tell you" Virginia said firmly. "Doesn't leave this room. Ace knows (and knowing him, he's already told his girlfriend—that would be Shadow."

"What is it?" Lilac asked.

"Lilac." Virginia said, sighing. "I am your mother."

"What?" Lilac asked confused.

"When I was fifteen" Virginia continued. "I was raped by someone (I don't remember who). I was scared and I probably would have gotten rid of my baby had it not been for the comfort of great friends like Ace and Shadow."

"So that means…" Lilac said, coming to a conclusion.

"Yes." Virginia said. "You'd have never been born, Brevon wouldn't have been defeated, and probably several other things wouldn't have happened."

"I guess that makes sense." Lilac said.

"There's something else." Virginia said. "Ever since I was a little girl, I've had a darkness inside of me that struggles for control of my soul (one of the curses of being a dark dragon). When you were born, I sealed the darkness inside of both of us away."

"But, I'm a water dragon." Lilac said.

"Not fully." Virginia said. "Your 'father' had a water essence, but you became a dragon. So, you became a Water dragon since your dark essence was sealed, but I'm still a dark dragon since I'm a pure dark dragon."

"Okay." Lilac said. "But, why tell me this?"

"I figured you needed to know." Virginia said. "I don't know if I'll see you again and I needed to get this off my chest. I actually didn't come down to Avalice during the Brevon incident solely because I didn't want to meet you."

"It's fine." Lilac said. "You're here telling me now."

"Lilac" Virginia said. "Can I hug you?"

"What?" Lilac asked, confused.

"I normally wouldn't ask that." Virginia said. "But, I never actually got to see my little girl grow up. I just want this once."

"Okay." Lilac said, hugging her mother, who hugged her back.

"Now." Virginia said. "You guys should continue on your quest to find Milla's parents."

"Right." Lilac said, going to the door. "I do hope we meet again mother."

"I do too." Virginia said. "I do too."

 _With Ace and the others_

After about ten minutes the two dragons came out of the other room.

"So" Torque said. "Are we ready to continue?"

"Yeah." Lilac said. "Let's go."

"I recommend trying the Red Scarves first." Ace said.

"Why?" Carol asked.

"If you paid attention to Torque's story" Ace said. "You'd know why."

"We'll do it in the morning." Torque said. "It's getting late and we're going to head back to Lilac's house and get a little sleep before we actually start out. We'll need to be rested up before we walk right into the Red Scarves base and tell them what we're asking."

"That makes sense." Shadow said. "But, I must warn you: if you're going to take on a group like Red Blood, you should be very careful."

"They're going to take on Red Blood?" Virginia asked. "Are we sure we're going to let them do this?"

"We couldn't stop them if we tried." Ace said. "They're determined to find Milla's parents."

"Okay." Virginia said, shrugging. "Just remember you four: if it's an outnumbered situation, fight as hard as you can."

"Got it." The four of them said as they walked out of Ace's house and headed back to Lilac's house.

"They'll be fine." Ace said when they were gone. "I don't think any other group could handle this but them."

 _In the dark recesses of Lilac's mind—later that night_

Lavynnia walked over to the golden cage, opening it. Inside the cage at the far back wall was the figure of Lilac with her arms chained above her head and her ankles chained to the wall of the cage. Her boots and gloves were removed and her clothing was ripped in various places. When she heard the door open, Lilac looked up and saw Lavynnia, her expression becoming angry.

" **Poor Sasha"** Lavynnia cooed, stroking Lilac's chin. **"All tied up and nowhere to go."**

"Why are you doing this, Lavynnia?" Lilac asked, panting both from her own physical pain and from her own exhaustion.

" **Simple."** Lavynnia said, rubbing Lilac's hair. **"I'm taking control of this body. What happened in Shang Tu was simply because I wanted to see just how much power I can draw from this body."**

" **Unfortunately"** Lavynnia added, bring a claw across Lilac's cheek and drawing some blood. **"You're somehow restricting some of my power and your little friend Milla was able to beat me."**

"You won't win." Lilac said, growling a little. "They will stop you."

" **Oh, save me the speech before I gag you!"** Lavynnia said, irritated. **"And I'm already heavily considering it. I'm still the one controlling this body now and you can't do a damn thing about it."**

"they'll find out." Lilac said. "You can't keep it up forever."

" **I've been in here for fifteen years."** Lavynnia said, chuckling. **"I think I can fake being you long enough to gain enough power to destroy the Psychonix you refer to as Milla."**

"Milla's a Psychonix?" Lilac asked.

" **I'm surprised you didn't know it earlier."** Lavynnia said. **"You've been watching me this entire time. Well, whatever. I'm going to use this body for myself now."**

"I will fight you." Lilac said, a fire burning in her eyes. "I will fight you until the day I die. My friends will find out and they will stop you."

" **Such strong words."** Lavynnia said, stroking Lilac's cheek. Lilac responded to this by biting Lavynnia's hand. The dark dragon flinched, grabbing Lilac by the throat.

" **I'm going to enjoy taking the fire out of those eyes."** Lavynnia said, grinning evilly. **"When I'm through with you, you'll basically be a zombie, a shell of your former self."**

"Just try it!" Lilac shouted, defiant.

" **Fine."** Lavynnia said. **"I'll play your little game. But not now. I'm going to let you rot here for a bit first."**

"You will fail." Lilac said. "I'm not going to let you win."

" **Okay, that's it!"** Lavynnia said, frustrated with her lighter counterpart at this point. **"I'm tired of hearing you talk about how you plan to win even though you're basically trapped in the lowest point of your own mind, my slave for me to do whatever I please with. It's time I fixed that."**

With that Lavynnia took one of Lilac's own hair whips and tied it around her mouth tightly, effectively gagging her.

" **There."** Lavynnia said, admiring her work, her voice in a taunting manner. **"That's better. Now, I wouldn't bite down on that. I'm not sure which one is harder; your teeth or that hair whip, but I wouldn't test it."**

With a laugh Lavynnia left the cage, leaving a now silent Lilac to her own thoughts.

* * *

well, there's a twist for ya! And for those of you who saw the teaser pic on deviantart, it's not for this chapter. And here is where the story might change ratings. What will happen? Will LAvynnia win or will Lilac somehow find a way to escape and stop her own inner demon? Note: as long as Lavynnia is in control of Lilac's body, i will refer to heras Lavynnia unless referred to by another person.


	6. The Scarves

Chapter Five: The Scarves

In light of the events of the previous chapter I will be referring to Lilac as Lavynnia unless she is spoken about by another individual (she's pretty much going to act like Lilac, but it's not Lilac) It's not too big of a deal, since it's still Lilac's body, so whatever is true for Lilac in terms of physical things would be true for Lavynnia.

 _The treehouse_

The next morning Lavynnia, Torque, Carol, and Milla woke up, stretching and yawning. Torque sat up off the couch he slept on as Lavynnia, Carol, and Milla got up from their beds. The four of them got some breakfast and then left Lilac's treehouse (since it is the home of Lilac (Sasha in terms of Lilac's personalities), it is her treehouse) to continue on their quest to find Milla's parents.

 _Shang Tu_

The four adventurers entered the city once again, prepared to continue their quest. Carol led the group into a tunnel that led through the sewers.

"I can't believe you remembered these tunnels." Lavynnia (she has all of Lilac's memories as well as the ability to mimic her voice) asked. "It's been about six years since we've used them."

"Well" Carol said proudly. "We did use them when you and Torque were held captive by Brevon."

"That is true." Lavynnia concurred, admitting the fact. "I guess I just never thought about it."

"Do you still remember how to evade all the traps?" Milla asked, looking around cautiously. "Because I don't think I do."

"Of course I remember!" Carol said, walking ahead. "I remember this tunnel like the back of my hand."

At that moment a laser shot and nearly sliced off Carol's nose, had she not had her feline reflexes. The green wildcat jumped back, landing in Lavynnia's arms, the dark dragon in disguise looking at her confused.

"I thought you knew this place like the back of your hand." Lavynnia said with a chuckle.

"Weeeellll." Carol said, rubbing the back of her head. "I guess they updated it since me and Milla were last here."

"So it would seem." Said a ninja who dropped down from the ceiling and landed in front of the four adventurers. "Well, it would seem the deserters have returned."

"We told Spade we were leaving for good." Lavynnia said, impatiently. "Why can't you guys get that?! Spade sure got it!"

"Well" the ninja said, drawing two katana. "You're not getting any further through this tunnel."

"Try me!" Carol shouted, lunging towards the ninja, claws unsheathed. She easily knocked out the ninja, sitting him up against the wall.

"That was quick." Torque noted.

"He's a low class." Carol said. "When me and Lilac were in the Scarves, both of us were A class. The only reason we weren't S or X class was because we left when I was ten and Lilac was twelve. We're actually in S class now." (these classes don't just mean power—there's two versions of classes: the rank/skill class (capability to use one's natural abilities or weapons) and the pure power (strength, speed, and in some cases ranged abilities—may include power of weapons) class—in this case Carol is referring to the skill class, but since only the Scarves or the martial arts tournaments use this form of rank, mostly the class for power is usually used in relation to these letters)

"So" Torque asked. "Where do we go now?"

"We go find Spade." Lavynnia said. "He might be able to help us find Milla's parents."

"What if he doesn't want to see us?" Milla asked.

"Then we kick down the door and talk to him anyway." Carol said, grinning.

"Works for me." Lavynnia said.

The four of them made their way to a door which Lavynnia and Carol identified as Spade's quarters. Torque slowly opened the door, the four of them walking into the room. Spade was sitting at his desk working on some sort of drawing of a gauntlet. When he heard the door open, he turned around and looked at them (note that there's about fifteen feet between Spade and Team Lilac (I'm using that from now on so I don't have to say 'the four-fill in the blank-)). His expression changed to one of confusion, irritation, and indifference.

"What do you want?" Spade asked, his tone cold.

"We need your help." Torque said.

"With what?" Spade asked. "And make it quick. I've got things I need to do."

"We're trying to tell you something important!" Carol shouted. "And we're gonna tell you if we have to kick your butt first."

Spade chuckled for a second.

"So" he said, crossing his arms. "You're going to kick my butt? Just go ahead and try it."

Carol leapt towards Spade, but when she was halfway to the cavy, another ninja tackled her to the ground and pinned her arms and legs down.

"You never did learn to mind your surroundings." The ninja, a woman, said from behind her hood. "You know what happens when you don't pay attention, don't you?"

Carol's eyes went wide and she began to struggle as much as she could under the older ninja's weight (she had at least fifty pounds on Carol, being around seven years older).

The ninja unsheathed the claws on her left hand, holding them in front of Carol's face.

"I'll bet you know what I'm going to do with these." She said, grinning behind her mask.

"No!" Carol said, still struggling under the weight of the ninja, her expression a little fearful.

"Yep." The ninja said, bringing them closer to Carol's side. Lavynnia and Milla tensed up a little and Torque reached for his blaster discreetly.

The ninja put her claws on Carol's side and wiggled them back and forth, causing Carol to laugh and struggle even harder. (bet you guys thought I was gonna go super dark)

"No!" she pleaded again, sweating and laughing. "Stop! Carla, stop!"

"Carla?" Torque asked.

"Yep." The ninja, Carla, said, pulling off her mask to reveal that she was a green wildcat and looked almost exactly like Carol.

"Sis!" Carol shouted, jumping into Carla and tackling her to the ground. The two sisters laughed and laughed, hugging each other.

"Well, Lilac." Carla said, standing up and walking over to Lavynnia. "You've grown."

"Thanks." Lavynnia said, sucking in a breath after Carla grabbed her in a huge hug.

"So" Spade said, his tone back to its usual irritated. "Why are you here?"

"We need your help." Milla said. "Will you help us?"

"It depends on my mood and the request." Spade said, crossing his arms.

"We need to find my parents." Milla said, clasping her hands together.

"Do we look like the police?" Spade asked.

"I don't think the police would help in this instance." Lavynnia said, shrugging. "They really wouldn't be keen on helping Scarves members, even if their daughter stopped Brevon."

"Wait, what?" Spade and Carla looked at the dark dragon in disguise with confusion and small amounts of suspicion. Spade grabbed a can of soda from his fridge, muttering something about this being a doozy of an explanation. He started to drink it, still listening to Milla.

"My parents were James and Cara Basset." Milla said. Spade spit out the drink that was in his mouth, coughing and sputtering.

"You're not serious." Carla said, having more composure than Spade currently. "I mean, you're last name is Basset and you do seem to resemble the two of them, having Cara's eyes and smile and James's tough demeanor, but there's no way you could be their child."

"Well" Torque said. "I've got a story that could help clear up a few things."

"This'll be interesting." Spade said. "How the hell do you know them? They've never been off planet as far as we know. But, tell me, how do you know two of our best operatives?"

"Before I was in the Chasers" Torque said. "I was involved with a group known as Red Blood."

Spade and Carla both tensed. Spade pulled several of his power cards out of thin air, charging them up.

"So you're one of them." He said, growling.

"No.' Torque said, unintimidated by Spade. "Not anymore. I've broken all ties with them."

"Then how do you know they have James and Cara?" Carl asked.

"This happened just before I left." Torque said. "I wasn't able to do anything then, but now I have a chance to set things right."

"Tell us your story." Spade said.

"Allright." Torque said. "Here goes."

 _Twenty five minutes later (yeah, yeah, I know, I'm still not revealing it. It's hard to tweak the story to make it fit)_

Spade and Carla just looked at Torque with amazement.

"That's dark." Spade said, cocking his eyebrows.

"That's something coming from him." Carla said, putting her hand on her hip.

"Well." Spade said. "I guess we'll help you catch those guys if only to get back our members."

"Well, thanks…I guess." Torque said, not really sure how to react to that.

"There are some things we need to attend to first." Spade said. "I hate asking you guys to help with this, but the other members are really incompetent when it comes to this sort of thing."

"What is it?" Lavynnia asked.

"Some jackass" Carla said, putting a whole lot of emphasis on the word 'jackass'. "Thought it would be funny to set off explosives in the three arenas. We figured that a group from outside the Scarves would be able to figure out who did it easier than members. Not that we distrust any of the members here, it's just that some people might not want to turn in their friends."

"We'll split into three groups." Spade said.

"The way you're saying this" Lavynnia said, suspicious. "Sounds like you already figured we'd say yes."

"We were going to get some other outside help." Spade said. "But, since you four are here I figured we could just use you guys instead."

"Besides." Carla said. "Lilac and Carol were previous members so most of the Scarves still trust them."

"So" Torque said. "What are the groups?"

"Well, obviously me and Carol are gonna go together." Carla said, giving Carol a noogie.

"You two blaster types" Spade said, referring to Torque and Milla. "can go together."

"Looks like you and your girlfriend are in a group together." Carla said in a teasing tone. Spade said nothing and grabbed the older green wildcat by the scarf and pulled, causing it to tighten around her neck.

"Okay" Carla said, coughing and hacking slightly, but overall not really being affected (he wasn't hurting her, just making a point). "I get it. Touchy subject."

"So.' Spade said, changing the subject. "Let's go."

Torque, Milla, Carol, and Carla walked out of the room, leaving Spade and Lavynnia to themselves.

"So" Lavynnia said, not sure of what to make of the situation (a first for her, especially considering that she had to act how her softer, kinder side would). "We're in a group together."

"Save it, faker." Spade said, his tone actually surprising the dark dragon. "I know you're not the real Sash."

"And what makes you figure that?" Lavynnia asked, wondering how her cover was blown so easily. "Your emotions conflicting with you or something?"

"Your soul is different." Spade said, grabbing Lavynnia by the arm. "Where's the real Sash?"

"Why do you want to know so badly?" Lavynnia taunted. "In love or something?"

"Because as much as Sash and I fought and didn't see eye to eye" Spade said. "She was still a very loyal friend and until she left the Scarves, I knew I could always count on her. I know that her leaving was my fault, but she still for some reason was a very loyal friend."

"Well, that doesn't explain how you knew my soul was different." Lavynnia said, her eyes turning red like normal. "You're the only person to figure it out. Not even her best friend could figure out that I've taken over and locked up that goody two shoes in a cage where she belongs."

"Cage?" Spade asked, confused.

"Inside the mind." Lavynnia said, tapping her skull.

"So, it's still her body." Spade observed. "Just a different personality."

"Not quite." Lavynnia said, chuckling. "I have access to more power than poor little Sasha has. What you're seeing now in terms of my power is only ten percent of my full power and half of Sasha's full power."

"Well" Spade said. "You're quite a tough character. But, I'm sure Sash's friends will be able to free her and stop you."

"doubt it." Lavynnia said, laughing. "Even if you figured it out, I doubt they will. Speaking of which, how did you figure it out? I was sure I pulled the part off perfectly, even keeping her best friend from figuring it out."

"My Heart Power." Spade said, holding up an Ace of Hearts.

"How cliché." Lavynnia said, disgusted.

"I accidentally hit her with a Heart Power card some time ago." Spade said. "It let me see her soul and feel her emotions (uggh). I felt a change when you walked into the room, telling me that you weren't the real one. I have no romantic feelings for Sash, but I won't let someone like her be hurt by a monster like you."

"Oh, how precious." Lavynnia cooed. "He still cares for his childhood friend. Well, I'm sure she heard you in her little dungeon. It's the only liberty I've given her."

"We'll settle this later." Spade said as the two of them ran out to solve the mystery of the explosions.

* * *

okay, this is shorter than i usually do, ends in a way i normally wouldn't, and is uploaded way later than something this short would normally be uploaded from me, but school has been pressing these last few weeks and i haven't been able to pull as much out for this story and Undertale Revisited. Exams end this week so i may can work on these more, but i'm also working on an actual novel and i'm going to spend a good portion of my Christmas vacation rebeating the Metroid Prime Trilogy so don't expect another chapter of this and Undertale Revisited or maybe even a single chapter. I will try my best to work on this though and next semester should have my dectnt, but still sparadic uploading schedule. This shortness also doesn't mean that i'm running out of ideas for this section, it's just that it's been like 3 weeks since i uploaded the last chapter and even working on three fics (not trying that again) i could pull out three chapters in three weeks. I just wanted to upload something and convince people i'm not giving up on this or putting it on hiatus like the others.


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